The Walking Dead: Alyssa's Story
by Yvania DragonBane
Summary: Alyssa never expected a zombie apocalypse to happen when she was babysitting, let alone be thrown into a dangerous game of survival where she must fight everyday to keep herself and Clementine safe.
1. Chapter 1

It just seemed like any other day. Not the end of the world.

Alyssa sat on the couch and rolled her eyes at Sandra's giggles and squeals coming from upstairs. She had been pulled into babysitting so Sandra and her boyfriend could 'be cosy' in private, her dad didn't like Dave and forbade him from the house so when Sandra had been asked to babysit this little girl she had seen it as her golden oppertunity to get past second base.

Yeah because this was what life was all about, going all the way with your scumbag boyfriend.

_"You owe me don't forget!" _she had hissed when Alyssa flat out refused and she had sighed and agreed. She was right, Alyssa did owe her one.

"Where's Sandra?" Clementine asked looking up from her colouring.

Alyssa sighed and forced a smile on her face "She's just upstairs on the phone to her boyfriend" she rolled her eyes "we don't want to hear her lovey-dovey phone call do we?"

Clementine smiled back and shook her head "Nuh-uh" she made a face "boys are gross, the ones in my class just pick their noses and wipe it on each other"

Alyssa laughed "Yeah, they really are gross don't ever lose that view on them Clem" she smiled and looked at her drawing "that's really good" she heard a moan and then more movement and cringed, she didn't want to hear Sandra and Dave and she certainly didn't want Clementine to hear either.

"Hey, grab your colouring book and crayons" Alyssa said standing up and going into the kitchen "we'll pack some food and juice and sit in your treehouse, it's a nice day for it" she paused before leaving and picked up the rolled up sleeping bag and some pillows "we'll be nice and cosy up there".

Clementine looked excited "I'd love that!" she helped Alyssa put the picnic into a bag and they both climbed the ladder up to the treehouse. The sun was extremely warm that day and Alyssa was glad of the hair tie she had and put her hair up in a bun.

"I wish I had your hair" Clementine said wistfully as she watched Alyssa put it up "mines ugly"

"I love your hair" Alyssa said, "I can never get curls like that even if I use my curlers for hours" she made a face "straight hair is a curse, never wish for it"

"Mabye you can straighten my hair one time?" Clementine asked "you don't live that far away"

Alyssa smiled and nodded "Sure, I'll bring my straightners and we can have a hair day"

"Without Sandra?"

"Without Sandra"

They started to colour quite happily and Alyssa took out her iPod and gave Clementine a ear to listen too as well, it was almost perfect. It took her back to when she was young and happy to just colour the day away. She just hoped Sandra would be finished-

"AHHH PLEASE NO!" Crashing, screaming and yelling soon echoed the quiet street.

Jumping, Alyssa turned and looked out the small window in the tree-house and her blood froze, a woman was leaning over her car on the street and was clawing desperately at the man over her. At first Alyssa thought she was getting raped but then with a sick realisation she realised that the man had sunk his teeth into the womans neck and was ..._eating her_!

All around there was carnage and destruction as more people were killed in the street, Alyssa felt fear inside of her and felt bile in her throat as she witnessed more people going crazy and eating each other. Cars crashed and the quiet sub-urban street was one of violence and death.

"Wh-whats going on?" Clementine asked scared.

Alyssa didn't know how to answer her "Something bad" she whispered, thinking quickly she went to the entrance of the treehouse and pushed the flap open, looking around she seen no one in the garden but next door there was a man stumbling about and growling and she felt faint when she seen half his face chewed off and his arm missing. Pushing the ladder over so it fell against the tree branch, but not so much so she could grab it again, she closed the flap quickly and hugged Clementine to her tightly.

"We need to be quiet!" Alyssa whispered frantically, she closed her eyes and shook as she heard a blood curdling scream come from the house and she knew it was Sandra, she just hoped whatever killed her killed her fast. "We need to stay here and wait for help and be quiet, okay?"

Clementine nodded and burrowed her head into Alyssa's chest "Okay" she said shakingly.

_"What the fuck is happening?" _Alyssa thought desperately "_the whole world has gone to shit!"_

All through the night, the screams and yelling continued and through this Alyssa kept a tight hold on Clementine. Never before had she been this scared even when her Dad had returned home drunk all those time and beat her and her Mom if he had lost at pool or a card game. Nothing would ever beat this.

Zombies.

One night when her brother Alan was still alive, he had stolen their Dad's bourbon and they had watched an old zombie movie and gotten drunk. "I'd survive a zombie apocalypse" he had slurred.

"Me too!" she had said "destroy the brain and don't get bit!"

"Sounds like a plan sis" he said winking "we'd be safe, I wouldn't let anything happen to you"

Alyssa closed her eyes and wished that her brother could be here now, but he wasn't. He had died after a drink driving accident and now it was her on her own ever since her Mom walked out on her leaving her with a drunken dad. Now it was her and Clementine.

"Try to sleep" she whispered to her.

Clementine shook her head and her lip wobbled "I can't, it sounds scary out there!"

Alyssa reached behind her and grabbed her iPod, the last thing that Alan ever gave her, well he stole it but Alyssa didn't care. "Here, put these in" she shifted as quietly as she could and unrolled the sleeping bag "it will block out the bad stuff"

"What about you?"

"I'll be okay, you try to get some sleep"

The little girl nodded and did what she asked and cuddled up in the sleeping bag, Alyssa put on some slow guitar music and watched as eventually Clementine fell asleep. She grabbed the pillows and put them behind her and watched out the window, wishing for help to come.

She stayed awake all night and hugged herself tight to keep warm, she was glad they hadn't tucked into the food she had brought up as that meant they had food for tomorrow. "Please, please" she prayed quietly, something she had never done before but it was the only thing she could think of doing "please send us someone who can help?" she closed her eyes and tried to block out the sounds of death around her.


	2. Chapter 2

Alyssa had managed to fall asleep at one point, probably from exhaustion, the next day hadn't been any better. There was less screaming, less car accidents but still she couldn't bring herself to leave the treehouse.

They had water and food ... for now. As well as shelter, a sheltered as a treehouse could be but still she couldn't believe what was happening.

The dead .. walking the streets. She had observed them and against Clementine's protests had thrown the empty water bottle at one to see how fast they could move and how smart they were. Alyssa was relieved when she seen that they weren't that fast and thick as shit. The zombie had growled and roared at the bottle before attempting to eat it.

She had tried to keep Clementine busy, by drawing or talking or letting her listen to music on her iPod but the battery was draining and she switched it off wanting to keep the rest of the power for night so Clementine could sleep without hearing what Alyssa had to hear.

It was on the second day, without Alyssa realising it that her prayer had been answered.

Hearing a gunshot and being hopeful it was the police or better yet the army, she left Clementine in the treehouse, after promising she would come back and quietly made her way to the woods. Cautiously she sneaked along, pausing every once in a while to listen and make sure she wasn't being watched. With her heart pounding she saw a police car on the ground, obviously it had crashed and a man sitting with his back to it. Even from this distance she could see the dead body in front of him.

She was going to creep closer when he looked up and seen her "HELP!" he waved desperately "go get someone! There - there's been a shooting!"

Alyssa was going to help but she seen movement and her heart beat faster "I need to get back to Clementine" she thought and turned back running towards the house, she heard snarls and kept running along the fence until she got to the road and began to make her way back to the house.

When she turned the corner, she seen two zombies walking near the house and she quickly hid behind a car, glancing behind her she was glad to see nothing had managed to keep up with her from the woods. Now, however, she had to wait until these two had wandered off.

She just hoped that Clementine was staying in the treehouse, out of harms way.

Clementine had been watching, waiting for Alyssa to come back when suddenly a man appeared over the fence and began to shift backwards until his back hit the deck. There was banging and growling coming from the other side of the fence until some more gunshots were heard then there was silence as they moved on.

Feeling scared, Clementine shut the flap quickly and hugged her knees. She could hear him walking about, and muttering and then heard him enter the house. A little hope went through her hoping it was mabye her Dad come to rescue her, and decided to check.

She looked over to the corner and saw her walkie-talkie and she carefully picked it up. Pressing the button, she held it down; "Daddy?" she said hopefully.

Letting go, she waited and her heart sunk when the voice that answered wasn't her Dad.

"Hello?"

Lee held the walkie-talkie in his hand and hoped whoever had contacted him would again. He looked around the house one more time and caught sight of a family portrait, smiling faces looked back at him and he saw the young girl. Mabye it was her, but where could she be?

He looked back to the answering machine, he had just listened to the mothers desperate pleas to her daughter to call the police. It had broken his heart to hear her say 'I love you' till it had cut off. She had mentioned a babysitter, he looked up the stairs where a bookcase was blocking it.

"I wonder where she is?"

The radio crackled then a serious voice said "You need to be quiet". He looked around and walked away from the answering machine to the doors and looked out. No one.

"Who is this?"

"My name is Clementine, this is my house"

Thank Christ, the little girl was safe, Lee knelt down despite his busted leg aching with pain and looked under the table wondering where she was. "My names Lee, I'm not a monster" he said thinking back to the dead police officer who had tried to eat him. "How old are you?"

"Eight"

He frowned wondering where she was, he didn't really want to push the bookcase off incase he frightened her even more, an eight year old girl shouldn't be exposed to the kind of horrors he had seen. "Are you by yourself?" he asked.

"No, my friend Alyssa is with me ... well she was. She heard a gunshot and left"

Lee wondered if it was the girl he had waved too in the woods. He just hoped she was okay. "Where are your parents?" he asked.

Clementine sounded a little sad "They took a trip and left me with Sandra and Alyssa. They're in Savannah I think. Where the boats are?"

Lee gave the house one more sweep before asking "Where are you?" he headed through to the kitchen and gratefully took a quick swig from a water bottle.

"I'm outside in my treehouse, they can't get in" Lee looked out and sighed with relief, she was safe up there.

"Thats smart"

"It was Alyssa's idea" he seen the flap open and a small smiling face appear wearing a cap "See? Can you see me? I can see you through the window"

Lee waved and gave a tired smile but suddenly Clementine shrieked and hid once again in her treehouse and he heard a growl. He turned behind him and a half eaten face was snarling at him and lunged. He shouted and grabbed it by the shoulders using all the strength he had to keep it from taking a bite out of his face. At least he knew what had happened to the babysitter.

Alyssa ran around the house with her heart in her mouth, she had heard a shriek and thought the worst as she looked into the garden but was relieved when she didn't see Clementine being attacked. The eight year old was climbing down the ladder as quick as she could and Alyssa frowned "Clem get back up there!" she hissed "it's not safe!"

"Theres a man in trouble!" she cried out as she jumped the last steps and pointed to the house. Alyssa looked through the glass doors and saw the creature that used to be Sandra crawl along the floor towards a man who was backing away.

"Shit!" she cursed and spied a hammer lying next to the decking that Ed had been fixing, snatching it up she headed to the doorway with Clementine following. Alyssa flung the doors open and held out the hammer to the guy "HERE!" she shouted, horrified at what Sandra had become.

Kicking her in the face, the man turned and took the hammer swinging it hard and hitting Sandra in the head. Blood splattered against the counter and she fell off him. Standing quickly he shouted as he repeatedly hit her in the head till her brain was showing through her skin and blood oozed from her. Alyssa fought back the urge to be sick and leant against the doorway. The man stood breathing heavily and leant heavily against the counter.

"... oh Jesus" he whispered as he looked down at the corpse.

Clementine backed up as the pool of blood grew bigger and looked fearfully at the man "Did you kill it?" she asked.

He looked up at the two girls and gave them a worried look "I don't know ... I think so"

"Sure looks like you did" Alyssa whispered and took another deep breath "but sometimes they come back"

"Have you had to kill one?"

"No ..." Alyssa glanced down at Clementine "but we've seen enough"

"It was scary" Clementine said scared.

He knelt down and looked worried "You two have been through this all on your own?" he asked sympathetically. Alyssa nodded.

"I want my parents to come back now" Clementine said hugging herself and closing her eyes.

The man hesistated but sighed "I think that might be a while .. you know."

"Oh .." Clementine sounded like she was fighting back tears and Alyssa's heart ached.

His eyes flickered between them both "Look, I don't know what happened. But I'll look after you both till then"

Alyssa could have cried with happiness, she wouldn't have to do this alone. "That would be great thank you" she said sincerely. It had just proved how the world changed, here she was accepting a stranger's help.

"What should we do now?" Clementine asked.

He stood up and glanced out the window, the sun was fading a little. "We need to find help before it gets dark" he said.

"Yeah it's not safe at night" Alyssa agreed, she offered a weak smile "I'm Alyssa"

"Names Lee" he answered, he took a hold of Clementine's hand and gave them both a serious look "let's go. Stay close to me"

Alyssa felt like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, her prayers had been answered.


	3. Chapter 3

Once they were outside Clementine slowly shut the door on her house and Alyssa fetched her bag from the treehouse as well as the last bottle of water they had, they walked down the drive in silence. Listening out for trouble. Alyssa walked beside Lee and he seen her smile when she seen Clementine slowly swing his hand as they walked.

They stopped when they heard voices and Lee signalled them both to crouch down as they approached the metal gates. The street was full of abandoned cars and he was surprised that someone had tried to drive through, there didn't seem to be any walking dead about and Lee observed them making sure they weren't dangerous.

A fat young guy who was helping a skinnier one push a car stopped and shook his head "Maan, I 'ent gettin' home to Mama at this rate" he sighed rubbing his head.

"This sucks" the other one agreed as he leant against the bonnet of the car.

"It's hot dish night as well" the fatter one whined, Lee fought the urge to roll his eyes. It was the end of the world and all he could think about was his dinner. They both took a breather and returned to trying to push the car away. Lee stood and was about to head for the gate when Clementine pulled on his hand looking worried.

"Whats the matter?" he questioned.

Clementine looked uncomfortable, he glanced at Alyssa who shrugged in response. "Should I stay?" the little girl asked.

"What?" Lee was surprised at her question.

She closed her eyes "I don't want to sleep in the treehouse again tonight, but I don't know if I should leave. What if my parents come home?" she opened them and almost seemed to beg Lee for an answer.

Lee thought for a minute, he knew there was a good chance that the girls parents were dead. Especially after he had heard her mother's message saying her father had a little 'incident' with a crazy guy and her mother sobbing down the phone as he could hear riots in the background but he couldn't bring himself to tell the small girl that. Alyssa seemed to guess as much as she bit her lip and looked tearful.

"I won't leave you alone" Lee answered making her smile "either of you"

"How about we find somewhere thats safe and also close?" Alyssa suggested.

Lee nodded in approval "That sounds like a good idea".

He led them down the drive and Alyssa pushed the gate, it gave a creak as it opened and caused the two young men to jump and turn towards the source of the noise. Lee seen that they looked scared and he held up his hands "Hey, it's okay" he said.

"Holy shit" the skinnier one with black hair cursed.

The other one seemed on the verge of wetting himself "Don't eat us!" he cried out.

"We're not going to hurt you" Lee said calmly and they walked closer, he snorted inwardly, a limping black man, a small eight year old and a teenager looked dangerous. They relaxed once they seen that they really didn't mean any harm.

"Phew thought for a second you were all gonna give us the chomp" the black haired one sighed with relief.

"Do you have any idea whats happening?" Alyssa asked before Lee could say anything.

He shook his head "Nope, but I'm guessing you've seen whats been walking around then?"

Lee nodded "Unfortunately"

"I'm Shawn, Shawn Greene"

"Lee, and this is Clementine and Alyssa" he said indicating to the two girls.

The chubbier one knelt down and gave Clementine a wave "I'm Chet" he smiled, Clementine gave him a shy smile and hid behind Lee a little while Alyssa just nodded.

Shawn frowned "We shouldn't be out in the open like this. How about you help us clear the way and we'll take your daughter and your ..." he glanced between Alyssa and Lee who were obviously not related "step-daughter? Out of here and down to my family's farm. It will be safer there"

Lee coughed "I'm not her dad ... or step-dad" he hesitated "I'm just some guy that found them"

"Some guy?" Shawn said uneasily, Lee knew what he must be thinking, especially with Alyssa.

She took a step forward and folded her arms "He's the guy who saved us from one of those things" she said firmly.

"We saved each other" Lee admitted shooting Alyssa a grateful look and she smiled back.

"She's alone" Shawn said looking down at Clementine with a sad look "you as well?" he asked Alyssa, who nodded sadly.

"We are now" she sighed.

Lee turned to them both "What do you want to do?" he asked the both of them, Alyssa bit her lip and remained silent, obviously not knowing what would be best.

Clementine anxiously looked back at her house and shook her head confused "..I ..." she began to say something but stopped dead when they heard growls and snarls get louder and closer.

"Them monsters are coming!" Chet said urgently "WE GOTTA GO!" he hissed crouching down behind a car.

Shawn began to push the car and looked back at Lee, "Lee quick, let's go!"

Ignoring the stabbing pain in his leg, Lee quickly limped over and began to help Shawn push the car while Chet kept watch on the zombies. Alyssa ran over and began to help as did Clementine and slowly the car began to move. With one more push it was out of the way of Shawn's red truck and Lee pushed Clem and Alyssa into the front cab and got in as did Shawn. Wasting no time as the dead came staggering closer, Chet jumped in the back and patted the top.

"GO!" he shouted and Shawn put his foot down on the accelerator and they sped away, bumping into a car. Lee let out a breath and rubbed his forehead, they had gotten away. Clementine was peering out the back at her house in the distant while Alyssa caught her breath.

Shawn glanced along at Lee "'For just some guy', you've saved a bunch of lifes today"

It was dark when they finally made it to Shawn's family's farm and Alyssa felt her eyes grow incredibly heavy as she forced them open. It was a full moon and she thought to what Alan had always said whenever it was a full moon.

_"All the weirdo's will be out tonight!" he would say to scare her, "zombies and were-wolves wanting to eat you up!"_

Never had she thought the zombie part would come true.

Shawn slowed the truck down as they approached a farmhouse and tall barn, you wouldn't think that the world had gone mad out here. Alyssa glanced at Lee who reached across and squeezed her shoulder tight, she smiled at him and glanced down at Clementine who was snuggled into Lee's chest. She had really grown attached to him.

They opened the door and Lee jumped out holding the door as Alyssa and Clementine hopped out. Chet swung himself over the side of the truck and stretched out, he had been in the back the whole journey and it couldn't have been comfortable.

"Hey, Shawn .. I'm 'a run on home. Mama's gone be in a snit" he said smiling at his friend.

Shawn nodded "No sweat man, I'll see you tomorrow night". Alyssa raised an eyebrow, you wouldn't think that dead people were up and walking the way they calmly made social arrangements.

"It was .. nice to meet you all" Chet said nodding to the three of them before taking off. Clementine waved after him. They followed Shawn to the front door where an older man, probably Shawn's dad opened it and smiled down at his son.

"Thank god, you're okay" he said walking down the steps.

Shawn hugged him "I was worried it'd be bad here too" he admitted. His dad patted his back and broke off the hug.

"Been quiet as usual the past couple days. Ol' Breckon down the way thinks his mare's gone lame but that ain't nothing new" he told his son.

Shawn looked up to his dad "I wouldn't have made it back without Chet" he said.

His dad nodded "Well, I'm glad you took him with you then" he looked up and seen Lee, Alyssa and Clementine holding back. "You've brought a couple of guests" he stated and Alyssa couldn't tell if he was pleased by this or not.

Lee cleared his throat "We just need a little help, we won't stay long" he promised.

"Good to hear, you're welcome to stay the night. I don't run a bed and breakfast" he raised an eyebrow "So it's just you and your ... daughters then?"

"Oh not his daughters" he corrected his father "he's well ... just some guy who saved them both"

The old man leaned down so he was eyelevel with Clementine, "Honey, do you know this man?"

"Yes" Clementine answered. He glanced up at Alyssa who nodded back at him.

He sighed and nodded "Ok then" he looked to Lee and noticed his bleeding leg "well, it looks to me that you hurt your leg pretty bad there"

Alyssa looked down at Lee's leg and saw he was shaking slightly on his feet "Yeah, it's not doing too good" he admitted.

Clementine fidgeted about and averted her eyes, "What's wrong Clem?" Alyssa asked her.

"I need the toilet" she said embarresed.

"I think I can help you both out, Shawn take the young'un to the bathroom, you take a seat up on the porch and I'll see what I can do" the man said, Shawn smiled at Clementine and held out his hand. She took it and he led her into the house.

Alyssa helped Lee up the stairs and sat next to him on the seat while Shawn's dad disapered into the house, he came back out and squinted at Alyssa who probably looked as tired as she felt. He bent down and gently moved the ripped jeans away from the wound "Let's have a look" he said, and felt around the bloodied tear "Yeah, this is swollen to hell"

"It hurts like hell" Lee winced and closed his eyes as he began to work on his knee.

"I bet it does" he remarked "What did you say you're name was?"

"Lee"

He nodded "Nice to meet you Lee, I'm Hershel Greene" he frowned as he dabbed something out of a bottle onto Lee's knee "how did this happen?"

Alyssa watched as Lee thought carefully about his answer, she didn't know anything about him before he had came into their lives. "Car accident" he finally answered. Alyssa thought about the crashed police car and he wasn't wearing a uniform, what was he doing riding about with the police? Unless ...

"That so? Where were you headed. Before the accident" Hershel asked.

"I was getting out of Atlanta" he answered.

_In a police car_ Alyssa thought. "The news said to stay there" Hershel pointed out to him.

Lee shook his head "Bad idea, we hit someone on the road. One of the things you probably heard about on the road"

Hershel started to bandage his knee "Who were you with? The girl" he indicated to Alyssa.

Lee shook his head and sighed "I was with a police officer. He was giving me a lift"

Hershel must've believed what he heard as he continued to bandage Lee's wound "Awful nice of him"

"I'm an awful nice guy" Lee smiled.

Hershel smiled back and stood up straight "House is full up with mine. We've got another displace family of three sleeping in the barn. You and your daughters are welcome to rest there, when we're done here."

Alyssa noticed what he said and frowned, he obviously hadn't taken in that Lee wasn't Clementine's or her father. He turned to her "I didn't catch your name darlin'?"

"Alyssa" she replied "and the other girl is Clementine"

He looked saddened "Can't imagine what you girls have been through Alyssa" he said sincerely.

"Lee's keeping an eye on us" Alyssa said "keeping us safe"

"Until we find their parents" Lee added.

Shawn re-appeared with Clementine who came over and stood beside Lee. "So I'm thinking, first thing tomorrow, we gotta re-inforce this place" he said to his dad.

Hershel frowned "That doesn't seem necessary" he said while gathering up the spare bandages.

"I don't know what you saw on tv or heard on the radio but there's some serious ... _shit_" he whispered the swear word "hitting the fan, I don't think anyone knows how big it is yet"

Lee nodded in agreement "Your son's right, you're going to want to reinforce this place"

Hershel rolled his eyes "Stuff like that doesn't happen around here Shawn" he insisted.

Shawn looked angry "Dad, I'm serious" he looked to Lee and Alyssa "Lee, Alyssa back me up, tell him what you saw out there"

"I saw people eating each other" Alyssa whispered looking away.

Lee closed his eyes and shook his head "I got chased by a couple of dead people"

Hershel sighed "Well, do what you think you should. We've got plenty of chores as it is"

"Lee and the folks in the barn can help out in the morning. This is something that needs to be done" Shawn informed him firmly.

"I already said ok" Hershel snapped annoyed, Shawn rolled his eyes and went back into the house. The older man turned to Lee and the girls "Well, I'm all done here. It should start to feel better tomorrow"

"Thanks"

"If it feels hot or the swelling doesn't go down, you're probably dealing with an infection" he pointed out.

"What happens then?" Clementine asked, her little forehead creased with worry.

Hershel pointed his finger at Lee with his thumb sticking up "We'll probably just have to shoot you" he said seriously but Alyssa knew he was joking and snorted at the look on Lee and Clementine's faces.

"He's joking guys" Alyssa said smiling.

Hershel shook his head "We'll clean it, re-dress it and you'll be fine"

"That would be preferable" Lee muttered.

Hershel pointed over to the large barn "There's blankets and such in the barn. We'll be seeing you bright and early" he gave Lee a look "come tomorrow, which way will you be headed?"

"Towards Macon, I suppose" Alyssa shot him a confused look, why Macon of all places? He must have family there, she thought.

They headed to the barn and made themselves beds as well as they could out of the blankets and hay, Alyssa took off her jacket and used it as a pillow and let Clementine and Lee use the lumpy pillows. In the darkness, they couldn't see the other family that Hershel had mentioned but could hear the occasional snore.

Alyssa was about to drop off when Clementine broke the silence, "It smells like ..."

Lee seemed to chuckle "I know what it smells like" he said.

"Shit" Alyssa said without thinking and Clementine shot her a frown.

"Swear" she pointed out and Alyssa smiled tiredly at her.

"Sorry"

She rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling "I miss my mum and dad" she whispered into the darkness. Alyssa remained silent, she didn't miss her Mum at all and certainly not her dad but she couldn't help but wonder what was happening to them both.

"I bet Clem," Lee said quietly.

"How far is Savannah?" she asked with a note of sadness, Alyssa knew it was killing her to not be with her parents.

Lee shifted in his blanked "Pretty far" he said tiredly.

Clementine snuggled down and closed her eyes "Oh, ok" and Alyssa waited until she had fallen asleep.

"How are you doing Alyssa?" Lee asked out of the dark.

"Still breathing and not eating people" she answered, she could hear Lee chuckle again.

"Good let's keep it that way" he said.

"I plan too"


	4. Chapter 4

"Rise and shine. Time to get up!" a male voice said.

Lee squinted his eyes as the morning sun streamed in through the barn, he sat up and looked over. Clementine had started to stir and rubbed her eyes tiredly but he felt a little alarmed when there was no sign of Alyssa.

"If you're looking for the other girl, she's out looking for signal on her cell" the man who had spoken said "don't worry she's safe"

Lee nodded "Thanks"

Clementine stood up and scratched both of her arms looking slightly irritated "I'm itchy" she explained when Lee glanced at her.

"Well you slept in a barn, little lady. Lucky you don't have spiders in your hair." the man said, causing Clementine to give a little shriek and quickly check her hair fearfully, "But I bet your daddy scared 'em all away, huh?"

"I'm -uh- not her dad" Lee was growing a little tired of explaining this "names Lee"

"Kenny" the man offered a hand when Lee stood up and he shook it. Suddenly there was a small boy standing at the doors of the barn with an excited look on his face.

"Dad! We're gonna build a fence! There's a tractor and everything!" he started jumping about, excited at the thought of a tractor and took off again.

Kenny chuckled "Better get going or else we won't hear the end of it" he walked out of the barn and Lee and Clementine followed. Lee was glad of Hershel's help as his leg didn't feel as painful anymore and he could walk better. "That's my boy, Ken Junior. We call him Duck though"

Lee smiled amused "Dodging or quacking?" he asked.

Turning Kenny grinned at him "Both" the small boy began shouting for his Dad to hurry up "See what I mean?"

The approached Duck and a woman that Lee guessed to be his mother and Kenny gave him his full attention "Word is you're on your way to Macon?" he asked.

"My family is from there" Lee explained.

Kenny nodded "Well Macon's on the way and, personally, I'd appreciate the company of a guy who can knock a couple of heads together if he has too"

Lee nodded gratefully back, but he had to make sure Clementine and Alyssa agreed before he made a decision. "I'll need to ask the girls first" he said.

"Ahh gotta consult the missus. I understand"

Alyssa appeared from the side of the house looking a litle down-heartened "Manage to find a signal?" Lee asked remembering what Kenny had said.

She shook her head "Damn thing died on me" she held it in her hand and gave it an annoyed look "I could have sworn I turned it off and to make matters worse I don't have the charger" and put it back in her bag.

Kenny looked back at his family "Honey, Duck this here is Lee and ... eh ... sorry what are the girls names?"

Alyssa introduced herself and Lee saw Duck become a little shyer, leaning his head on his mums shoulders, he grinned, someone had a little crush on Alyssa. "This is Clementine" Alyssa added when the younger girl remained silent.

"Those are very pretty names" the woman smiled, she had a slight accent "I'm Katjaa".

Clementine smiled back "Thanks" she said happily.

Shawn came through the door and shot them all a smile, "Well, we should get to work. We've all seen what these things can do out there so the faster we get this fence up, the better."

Duck looked excited "I want to build a fence!"

"Yeah? Well I need a good foreman. You can sit on the tractor and yell at me whenever I take a water break" Shawn said.

The young boy's eyes widened with excitement "On the tractor? Cool!"

"Duck and I will hop to it" Shawn said and left the group with an excited Duck running after him.

Katjaa looked to Lee "I can keep an eye on your little girl here on the porch. We can visit". Clementine looked to Lee who nodded and she happily went over and sat by Katjaa. Alyssa remained standing and when Lee glanced at her she shook her head.

"No disrespect but I'd rather help out and keep busy" she averted her eyes and Lee nodded understandably, she had seen too much. He was just thankful she had managed to shield Clementine from it as much as she could.

"We'll be here if you wish to talk" Katjaa said without a hint of offense and began to talk to Clementine.

"Well, we better go find something to do" Lee said to Alyssa who nodded gratefully back and followed him over to Kenny who was attempting to fix his truck.

"Hey .. uh Kenny. Need any help?" Lee asked.

"Naw I think I got it" Kenny stopped tinkering and looked to Lee, "do _you_ need any help?"

"This sounds like it's gonna be a serious grown-up talk" Alyssa said rolling her eyes "I'm going to go see if Shawn needs any help" she smiled at them both and walked towards the fence where Shawn was working. Lee couldn't help but notice that Shawn looked a little more happier when she began to help him hammer more boards on the fence. He would need to keep an eye on both of them.

"What do you mean?" he said turning back to Kenny.

"I mean in taking care of the little girl? Not so much the other one, she seems old enough to take care of herself" he said "You know what you're doing? You got kids of your own?"

Lee shook his head and rubbed his chin "I have no idea what I'm doing" he said honestly.

"At least you're honest" Kenny said "Shoot. You're better than I was when Duck showed up. You'll figure it out"

"How's your boy doing with all of this?" Lee asked, Duck didn't seem too fazed by the zombies that had suddenly appeared.

"Good, I think. Katjaa's got a sister up in Memphis; we were coming back from visiting her. We were in a gas station and some guy grabbed my boy." Kenny frowned at the memory, standing up from the truck, "I thought he was kidnapping him. I was on the guy in about two seconds and… Christ. Just lucky I was there. We saw a lot of bodies before we stumbled upon Hershel's. But we're a tough family, Lee. Ain't nothing gonna faze us."

Lee nodded "So what's your plan?"

"Get back on down to Lauderdale and let this mess get sorted out." Kenny began, "Government will start handing out shots and the National Guard will do its thing. On the odd chance things got too bad, we could hop on my boat, I guess" he added thoughtfully.

"You have a boat?"

"I'm a commercial fisherman, catching mackerel, dolphin, whatever's biting and paying. Katjaa wouldn't be wild about it, but the boat's not that bad." Kenny returned to his work and Lee decided to leave him to it.

"I'm gonna go check on the girls" Lee said glancing back over at Alyssa who was giggling at something Shawn said.

"See, you're already becoming a dad" Kenny chuckled.

Lee snorted and gave him a wave before returning back to Kataa and Clementine who looked relaxed sitting in the sun and chatting. "Hey there, girls. You two actually looked relaxed." he noted.

Katjaa smiled kindly at him "I think we're doing just fine, Clementine was just telling me about first grade" she explained.

"Oh, uh. How is that going for you?" Lee asked, realising just how little he knew about the girls he had promised to protect.

"It's easy" Clementine answered sitting up and smiling at him.

Lee nodded "Well, yeah it would be" he said, then realised he sounded blunt and gave Katjaa an embarresed look, she just gave him a small shake of the head but was still smiling.

She looked around the farm "Anyway, it's almost like we didn't see people eating each other for the past three days. It's peaceful here, no?" she asked looking back at Lee.

He nodded and gave her a serious look, glad that Clementine was distracting herself by trying to make a daisy chain. "How did you get out of the city?" he asked.

"Kenny just ... drove" Katjaa said a little distantly, the smile leaving her face "We passed so many people that needed help. And we .. just passed people ... over some. Just .. just .." she trailed off shaking her head.

Lee felt guilty for bringing it up "It's ok. It's fine, you don't have to say anymore" he told her.

Katjaa rubbed her forehead and sighed "I want to go home tomorrow, but even then I can't take away the things we – the things Duck – went through." she looked at Lee, "Don't you want to go back to the moment before you knew about all this?"

Lee thought about what she said, the moment he found out about all this, he was on his way to prison but he decided not to tell Katjaa this. It wouldn't make a good first impression. "Anybody in their right mind would" he said nodding "Families and BBQ's and beer's with good friends."

Katjaa smiled sadly and nodded "All of those things."

"Those are the things we live for, right? With those gone, what's the point?" Lee shrugged. He changed the subject quickly as Clementine seemed to come back to the conversation after failing at the daisy chain. "So uhh, what do you do when… corpses aren't walking around?"

"I'm a veterinarian back in Fort Lauderdale – like Hershel, here, except more with dogs and cats and not horses." Katjaa answered, "What is it that you do, Lee?"

"I used to teach up at the University of Georgia."

"We need to HOPE that we can go back to our jobs soon, Lee. Back to normal. It can't stay like this."

"You're right, hope is the one thing we can't lose" Lee didn't want to explain even if it did go back to normal, he couldn't go back to his old job "Back in a bit. You behave for Katjaa now" he said to Clementine who smiled and nodded as he walked by them.

Lee headed over to the back of the house where Shawn and Alyssa were working away while Duck sat on the tractor thrilled, and preteneding to drive it.

"How ya doing, Duck?" Lee asked amused.

"Good! I'm gonna drive the tractor!" Duck said, as he moved the gear stick "I'm the foreman! Lift with your back, Shawn!"

Alyssa noticed Lee and smiled "Look at me getting all handyman" she joked.

Shawn looked around "Hey, Lee," he said and went back to working, Lee noticed the way he kept glancing at Alyssa as she continued hammering the nails into the wood.

"Need a hand?" he asked, feeling his protective side coming out. He used to work in a University and knew what a boy looked like when he was interested in a girl.

"That'd be great. If you could cut those two-bys to length, that'd sure speed things up." Shawn replied in a cheery tone, not realising Lee's true intentions.

Lee walked over to the planks and gripped the handsaw. He had just began to cut the pieces in half when Alyssa gasped and clutched her hand "Damn," she cursed and pressed down hard on her palm which had started to bleed "didn't see that bit of barbed wire on the fence"

"Theres some plasters on the porch" Shawn said "I left them out incase of emergencies"

"Well aren't you the clever cookie thinking ahead" she smirked "back in a bit" and she walked off towards the house.

"My dad doesn't know how bad it is." Shawn stated turning back to the fence once Alyssa walked away.

"No, he doesn't." Lee agreed continuing with sawing the wood.

"I saw a guy in Atlanta kill a kid. A boy. Just shot him right in the face." Shawn grimaced.

"Was the boy one of the walkers?"

"I don't even know. He was either attacking the guy or asking for help. He didn't even hesitate. He just turned, put the barrel of the gun right between the kid's eyes and pulled the trigger." Shawn sighed, "You don't see things like that. It's not like in the movies."

"They don't fall like you think." Lee muttered.

Shawn blinked as he turned to Lee with a surprised look on his face "Did you have to do it?"

"Do what?"

"Kill. Have you had to off one yet?"

Lee thought about Sandra, the babysitter. "I bashed a poor girl's brains in."

Shawn let out a low whistle "Whoa, I couldn't do that," he said "I'm just glad we're getting this fence built. Dad just wants to keep the family safe and thinks inviting people in is a bigger threat than whatever's out there" he seemed intent on having a proper conversation with Lee as he then asked "How about yours? How's your family?"

Lee didn't bother explaining about his ex-wife and focused on his family "My brother and parent's are in Macon, I hope," he added, hoping with all his might they were safe there.

"Oh man, I hope so too. Maybe it's not too bad there." Shawn noticed how much wood Lee had cut and nodded "That's probably all I need cut for now. Thanks."

"No problem" Lee said smiling "And Shawn, thanks again for the ride."

"No problem, Lee. Couldn't leave you behind." Shawn replied, "Anyway, when you see my dad around, he might want some help in the barn."

Alyssa smiled at Katjaa and Clementine as she walked up to them "Hey, how's the chat going?" she asked walking past them and heading for the small first aid box on the porch that Shawn had mentioned.

"Clementine was just telling me about herself" Katjaa paused "so what age are you Alyssa?"

Alyssa kept searching for some plasters "I'm eighteen" she said "my birthday was last month"

"So you're ten years older than me?" Clementine asked.

She nodded "Good mental arithmatic Clem, I am ten years older than you"

Katjaa smiled at both of them "So how did you two get to know each other?" she asked non-chalantly but Alyssa knew she was wondering how they both had met Lee, she supposed it was the mother in her that was making her ask these questions.

"My friend was babysitting Clem when ... when all of this happened" Images of a zombiefied Sandra and a gaping hole in her head sprang to Alyssa's head and she shuddered "Lee showed up at the right time"

"He's going to help me find my parents" Clementine piped up "and Alyssa's too"

Alyssa stayed quiet and Katjaa noticed this, she wasn't in any hurry to be reaqquianted with her father. "Hey Katjaa can you put this plaster on my finger?" she asked, changing the subject and taking a seat next to the older woman "cut my hand on the fence"

When Lee walked into the barn, Hershel was busy shoveling hay with a pitchfork. He lifted his head and squinted annoyingly at him with distrust in his eyes. "How'd you get out Atlanta?"

"…I got a ride and then I was in a wreck. I walked until your boy found me." Lee lied a little, he didn't see the point in telling the truth if he was leaving today. Hershel had made it clear he didn't want them all staying longer. "You're farm is impressive" he said changing the subject.

"Heh, had you told me twenty years ago I'd still be doing this, I would've told you that you were full of crud. Never was the plan, having a place like this. It was in the family, and I guess so was I. Family's important; it's all that matters. You agree with that?" Hershel looked serious.

Lee felt some tension "Was brought up to, yes." he answered carefully.

"Where's your family now? Parents? Wife? Girlfriend?"

"My parents are in Macon, with my brother."

"Well I hope their alright." Hershel said, he even sounded somewhat sincere. "But now you've got these girls to take care of. Clementine and Alyssa, is it? You just stumbled up-on them?"

"Yeah, I was looking for help in Clementine's house. Alyssa was babysitting at the time"

Hershel snorted and stopped his work, sticking the pitchfork into the ground in almost a threatening way "Can I give you a piece of advice?"

"What is it?"

"I don't know who you are or what you did," he began. "Let's say things don't get better back in the cities. Or they get worse before they do. You're going to have to depend on the honesty of strangers if you're going to make it. And if those same people get to questioning yours, you're going to be in trouble. Oh, and I'd start checking the attitude, friend."

Lee opened his mouth to answer back. Attitude? Hershel was the one with the attitude but before he could say a word, there was a loud revving noise and a scream of pain.

Alyssa heard the screams and jumped up from the porch and headed to the source of the noise. She got there the same time as Lee and her eyes widened in fear at the sight before her. Shawn's legs were trapped under the tractor and he was trying to pull himself out from under the machine while some walkers tried to grab at him snarling through the fence.

Duck looked incredibly scared and froze while sitting on the tractor when suddenly one of the monsters grabbed at his leg and pulled him closer, he gave a scream of fear and tried his hardest to escape the monster's grip.

"You help Shawn, I'll get the kid!" Lee shouted at her running forward. Alyssa acted quickly and fell to her knees in front of the terrified teen then began to try and pull Shawn out from under the tractor.

"DAD!" Duck hollered, tears now pouring down his face as Lee desperately tried to fight off the monsters. Kenny came charging from around the corner and looked terrified as he grabbed a hold of Duck and began to pull. Lee at the same time punched the monster hard in the face and in that split second of releasing Duck's leg, Kenny pulled him away and picked him up.

"I got you!" he said to Duck, carrying him in his arms.

"Now Shawn!" Lee shouted to Kenny, picking up a board and smacking a walker clambering over the fence in the head.

"GET THIS TRACTOR OFF OF ME!" Shawn shouted in pain to Kenny, who just shook his head and ran off with Duck in his arms. Alyssa felt tears in her eyes as Shawn cried out in pain.

"LEE, HELP ME! PLEASE!" Alyssa yelled at him but before Lee could do anything, the wood cracked and the fence fell in as the two monsters collapsed on top of Shawn and wasted no time in sinking their teeth into his leg and throat. Lee grabbed Alyssa by the shoulders and dragged her back, she was too in shock to do anything as blood splayed from Shawn's body and he screamed in pain.

It was too late when Hershel arrived with his gun, he blanched and looked deathly white as he seen what had happened to his son. Gritting his teeth, he took aim and shot one of the monsters in the head, the other hearing the gunshot raised it's head and growled at him before he shot it too. The third one, having recovered from Lee's attack on it with the board, roared and began to stumble towards Hershel, but he raised his gun again and shot it.

Falling to his knees he tried to comfort Shawn in his last moments "I'm gonna get you fixed up, everything will be fine" he said to him.

Shawn smiled weakly "Alyssa ... she .. she tried to help"

Alyssa bit her lip and her shoulders started to shake as she began to cry, Lee pulled her into a hug and she let out a sob before hiding her face in her hands. "I know son, I know" Hershel said soothingly, Shawn gave one more breath and then his eyes closed and his body grew slack as he died in his fathers arms.

Alyssa looked up from her hands and seen Clementine watching the scene with a terrified look on her face and tears in her eyes. Kenny and his family also neared and he looked guilty as hell as he seen the lifeless body of Shawn and the three walkers. Hershel looked down on his son one more time before he closed his eyes.

"Get out" he said in a deadpan voice. He opened his eyes and looked furious "GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE."

"I'm .. I'm sorry." Kenny choked out, looking down at the ground.

"SORRY? Your son is alive. You don't get to be sorry." Hershel yelled "that girl was more of a man than you, trying to help my son!" he pointed at Alyssa who wiped her eyes and sniffed.

"Look at him." Hershel said, gesturing to Shawn's dead body. "Sorry, is no damn good!" the fight seemed to leave him and he knelt back down next to his son to mourn, "Please, just go," he said sadly.

Alyssa looked up to Lee with tears in her eyes, "Where do we go now?" she whispered fearfully. Lee bit his lip and glanced at Clementine who was hugging herself looking at Shawn's dead body.

Both Lee and Alyssa turned to Kenny and she gave him a beseeching look, his eyes met Katjaa's and they both glanced at Clementine and back at Alyssa and without saying anything came to a decision.

"You've got that ride to Macon if you want it." Kenny mumbled sadly, before leaving with his family for his truck.


	5. Chapter 5

The truck running out of gas was the least of their worries, it had managed to make it to the middle of Macon before dying on them. The town looked deserted and with good reason, the buildings were all boarded up and quiet, papers skated about in the light wind and not a soul was seen.

Clementine glanced up at Alyssa and she smiled back at the little girl, well she tried too.

"Well, this is as far as we're going." Kenny sighed leaning back in his seat and looking around.

Lee opened the door, "Then it's far enough" he said. They all got out of the vehicle and began to walk down the street. Alyssa stuck close to Lee and Clementine seeked out his hand and held onto it tight. Overturned cars were all about and blood marks on the street, it made Alyssa sick to think about the amount of people who must have died in this street alone.

"Look!" Duck said suddenly breaking the silence, they all stopped and looked to where he was pointing and saw someone fixing a car. They couldn't see him properly and Alyssa just hoped he wasn't dangerous.

"Hey there! You friendly?" Kenny walked closer and waved his arms to try and get his attention "Truck's ran out of gas."

But the figure wasn't friendly, at hearing Kenny's voice, it stood up and they saw he was missing an arm and he snarled at them as he began to stumble towards the group. "SHIT!" Kenny shouted as they backed away and looked all around for an opening. Others seemed to sense there was food about and came out of buildings and behind cars, blocking any escape routes they could have taken.

"We're trapped!" Katjaa cried out. One of the zombies came closer and before Duck seen him, fell on top of him trying to bite him.

"AHH!" Duck shouted "NO! NO! HELP!" There was a loud bang and blood splattered from the body as a bullet came out of nowhere and pierced the zombies head. Duck pulled himself up and backed away in shock. A young woman, wearing a white shirt and black pencil skirt was firing her gun skillfully and hitting her target each time. Kenny grabbed up Duck and Katjaa and ran towards them.

"RUN!" A young Asian guy stood at the metal gates outside the drug store and Alyssa thanked whoever was up there that they were safe. Once everyone was inside the pharmacy, he slammed the gates shut and locked it just before the horde of dead managed to do anymore damage.

Alyssa leant over and tried to calm herself down, another guy who was kinda chubby. Shut the door after the Asian guy ran back in and kept watch on the dead outside.

"We can't take risks like this!" a different woman to the one with the gun hissed as she walked towards Alyssa and her group. She looked livid.

The one with the gun looked just as angry "And we can't just let people die, either."

The other one glared at her "When I say 'that door stays shut no matter what' I fucking MEAN it." she snarled "We don't know who these people are; they could be dangerous!"

An older man walked up behind her and nodded "Worse, they could've led them right to us."

"Where the hell is your humanity?!" the girl who had saved them said in disbelief "They would have died out there!"

"Then we let 'em!"

Lee spoke up. "We're not dangerous!"

"No, what's dangerous is a bunch of people running outside and drawing their attention to us." the angry one spat.

Kenny took a step forward and frowned "Lee's right. We're just regular folks, but we actually like helping people." he added.

"You'll have to excuse her."

"The hell he, or ANYONE will. This is about survival, do you guys not see what's happening?"

Clementine pulled on Alyssa's arm to get her attention, she pulled her attention away from the arguement and glanced down.

"What's up Clem?" she whispered.

"I…I have to pee."

Lee heard them and shook his head "In a minute Clem" she drooped her head but Alyssa focused back on the arguing adults and just hoped they weren't about to be thrown back out in the streets.

The Asian guy who had helped save them shook his head "They've got kids, Lilly,"

"Those things outside don't care Glenn." Lilly said in a deadpan voice.

"Maybe you should go join 'em, then. You'll have something in common!" Kenny shouted at her, they both glared at each other with loathing.

"God damn it, Lilly. You've have to control these people!" the older guy said to her.

Lilly frowned at him "Carley and Glenn just ran out there! What was I supposed to do?"

"I don't give a damn! We're in a war zone!" he retorted "do something!"

Lee looked at Kenny "She's an asshole, that's for sure" he muttered.

Lilly heard him and shot him an ugly look "That's what it takes."

Alyssa was growing tired of her attitude "Well you don't have to be a bitch about it." she snapped "we're all just trying to survive here!"

The old man looked like he was going to tell Alyssa off when he noticed Duck sitting on the stool by the slurpy machine, covered in blood and being tended too by his mother. "Holy crap ... Son of a bitch. One of them is bitten!" he said heatedly.

Lee shook his head "He wasn't bitten!"

The old man just shook his head stubbornly "Hell he wasn't! We have to end this, now." he made to move closer to Duck and Katjaa when Kenny stepped in front of him with a dangerous look in his eye.

"Over my dead body."

"We'll dig one hole."

Katjaa frantically wiped at the blood, her hands shaking a little "No! I'm cleaning him up! There's no bite, he's fine!" she said her voice a little high-pitched. Alyssa tried to think back to when the walker fell on top of Duck but it all happened too fast, she didn't see anything. She just hoped Katjaa and Kenny were right about this.

"Don't you fucking people get it? We've already seen this happen! We let someone with a bite stay and-and we all end up bitten!"

Kenny glared at him still holding his ground "Shut. Up!" he growled.

The old man looked around the group, wanting someone to agree with him "We gotta throw him out! Or smash his head in!"

Katjaa paused and turned to her husband "KENNY! STOP HIM!" she shouted.

"Lee, what do we do about this guy?" Kenny said looking to him. Lee came over and stood in front of Kenny, looking angryily at the old man.

"We kick his ass if he tries anything!" Lee said.

"God damn right!"

Carley yelled, "Everyone CHILL THE FUCK OUT!"

"Nobody is doing anything." Lilly sounded a little lost and upset.

Her Dad turned to her with a dissapointed look on his face "Shut up, Lilly!" he barked, before turning to Carley with an angry snarl, "And you. Shut the hell up. They will find us and they will get in here, and none of this will freaking matter. But right now we're about to be trapped in here with one of those things!"

"What the hell are you talkin' about?" Alyssa asked confused.

"He's bitten! That's how you turn into one of those things!"

Katjaa was nearly finished cleaning him up "He's not bitten!" she repeated, "Lee, stop this! It's upsetting him!"

"Oh. I'm 'upsetting' him? Upsetting is getting eaten alive!"

"Dad, we get it, it's a big deal." Lily stated.

"Oh you do, do you? You're not fucking acting like it Lilly!"

"What if it was her who was bitten!" Alyssa asked angryily "would you be wanting to kill her?"

"That would never have happened! She's not some snot-nosed toddler. She's United States Air Force!"

"Fuck the both of you!" Kenny growled "I'm gonna kill him, Kat, just worry about Duck!"

* * *

Clementine couldn't hold it in and while the adults were arguing, she dropped Lee's hand and tried to find the toilet. Cautiously, she walked to the back of the drugstore and recognized the usual toilet symbol on the door. Reaching up she tried to open the door but it wouldn't open. She glanced around and saw the older man shouting at Kenny and Lee while Alyssa had walked over and was helping Katjaa with Duck.

"Lee?" she called out a little desperately.

He dragged his eyes away from the arguement and saw her "Yeah?"

She held her stomach, she really needed to go. "There's someone in there."

"It's just locked. Key's behind the counter. Probably."

A bit angry he wasn't coming over to help, Clementine walked behind he counter and glanced over at the fight that was happening. "Hey, I'm not the bad guy here. I'm just looking out for my daughter!" The old man yelled in his defense.

"No, you're just the guy arguing for killing a kid!"

"He's covered in muck! She'll find the bite. WATCH."

"She won't."

"And if she DOES?" "The first thing he'll do is sink his teeth into his mom's face. Then once she's dead, he'll probably pounce on YOUR little girl. She'll turn fast, then they'll be THREE"

Clementine shivered a little as the thought of a monster Duck coming at her raced through her mind and she looked around for a key and noticed one on a hook just out of her reach. Typical.

"He's a little boy; I think we can handle him."

"A little boy? He'll be an uncontrollable man eater!"

"It's not gonna happen!"

"It is and we're tossing him out NOW!"

Pushing a stool over, Clementine climbed on top of it and got the key off of the hook and ran back over to the toilet door, quickly as she could she tried to open the door.

"NO. You don't touch that boy, you don't TOUCH anybody. I've got a little girl I'm trying to protect in here too. You want to get violent you old fuck?! Well, COME ON. You better have a plan to kill me though, because it's ME before anyone else in here."

She opened the door and before she could do anything there was a roar and Clementine froze as she looked into the snarling face of a monster. Screaming, she managed to avoid it's lunge and backed away making it fall onto the ground and attempt to grab her ankles.

* * *

"Jesus!" the old man shouted. It grabbed a hold of her ankle and she struggled to get out of it's grip.

"CLEMENTINE!"

Lee ran past everyone who still stood in shock to get to Clementine but tripped up as he neared her and hit the floor hard, his head swimming and vision blurring but another short shriek from the little girl brought him to his senses and he pushed up and ran towards her. "Get away from her you son of a bitch!" Lee cursed as he grabbed the walked by the shoulders and pushed him away from Clementine. It was surprisingly strong and he struggled to keep it at arms length as it snapped and growled trying to reach him. It managed to to get close to his neck and even closer to biting him when there was the sound of a gun firing and a bullet went through the walker's head, killing it immidiantly.

"Man .." he breathed out, letting it drop out of his hands onto a heap onto the floor. He glanced over and saw Carley standing with her gun in her hands, shaking slightly.

She seemed to snap out of her daze and gave him a worried look "You ok?". Lee looked over Clementine and when he seen she hadn't been hurt, he nodded in response.

The eerie silence of the drugstore slowly faded away as the growls and snarls got louder and soon there was the sound of hands being banged against the door and windows. Alyssa turned to the main doors looking nervous, "Uh…guys?"

As the noises got louder, they all ducked down behind shelves and tables, Clementine hid into Lee's shirt and Alyssa crouched down beside him. Glad he was here. The older man looked over the counter he was hiding behind and looked scared. "They're gonna get in!" he whispered.

Kenny shot him an annoyed look from his hiding place. "Shut up!" he hissed and wrapped his arms tighter around his family as the growls got more fiercer. Then there was suddenly the sound of heavy gun fire and the sounds of bodies falling to the ground. Alyssa listened closely and thought she could even hear a helicopter.

"Is that the military?" Lee asked out loud.

Lilly shook her head looking surprised "I don't know," she said.

"Thank God for whatever it is." Glenn said relieved.

Getting over his fear from earlier the older man stood and looked furiously at Carley "We almost died because of this bitch and her itchy trigger finger! Jesus, that was stupid! That was-" his eyes widenend and he fell to on knee tightly clutching his heart and groaned in pain.


	6. Chapter 6

"Was he the one bitten?" Alyssa asked worriedly as Lilly dropped to her knees beside him.

"No!" she hissed glaring up at her, "don't be crazy! It's his heart!"

Just at that moment, Larry struggled to look up at his daughter, "..my pills..." he said weakly. Katjaa got up and looked over at Lilly and her father.

"Nitroglycerin pills?" she asked.

Lilly stood up and nodded sadly "Yes! We're out. We've been trying to get into the pharmacy since we got here. Please, try to get in there. Behind the counter where the pills are." Lilly looked at Lee desperately and he sighed.

"We'll get in there somehow."

Lilly sighed in relief "Thank you so much. We need nitroglycerin pills, please get in there. I'll keep an eye on my dad." Stooping down she helped Larry to sit up and lean against the shelves.

Kenny walked over and took charge, "Everyone else should get comfy and look for anything useful. We could be in here a while."

Glenn stood up and cracked his back "I'm starting to think that this drugstore isn't a permanent solution."

"You're right, this isn't exactly Ft. Knox" Alyssa said sarcastically, "we're sitting ducks here."

"What do you suggest?" Lee asked Glenn, ignoring Alyssa's sarcasm.

Glenn thought for a moment, "We need as much gas as possible so we can all get out of downtown Macon. Fast."

"Agreed."

"Then I'll head out and get some gas," Glenn said "there's a motel not too far away from here, out towards the end of Peachtree. I'll work my way towards it and then loop back, siphoning what I can."

"You know your way around?" Lee asked raising an eyebrow "local?"

Glenn smiled "Born and raised."

Lee was just thankful he didn't recognise him, obviously the boy never took much notice in the news. "If you're going to do that, here's a walkie-talkie. If you get in a tight spot" he offerred it out to Glenn who attached it to his belt, "hopefully you won't need it. Clementine's got the other one. Check in with her and get back here as soon as you can."

Kenny turned to the guy standing by the door "And you, you keep an eye on that front door. You're our look-out."

The guy nodded "It's Doug, you got it."

The woman with the gun who saved them spoke up, "And I'm Carley."

Kenny nodded "Ok, Carley, you'll shift in with Doug when he needs it. For now, get some rest - you're a good shot and I'd like to keep it that way."

Carley glanced at Lilly before nodding back at Kenny, "You got it boss." Lilly shot her an ugly look before turning back to her father.

They all hopped to it and Alyssa sat Clementine down on the box at the counter.

"Can I get you anything?" she asked her.

"I'm ok .. mabye I'm a little hungry" she admitted.

Alyssa smiled "I'll see if I can find anything, just you keep an ear out for Glenn, ok?". The young girl nodded and she got up and started to search the shelves. Lee shot Clementine a smile before he headed over to Kenny to check on how he was doing.

"We can't let anything happen to Ducky" Katjaa said to Kenny as she gave Duck another look over.

"I know hon," he looked up and seen Lee approaching and smiled, "hey Lee, you really gave that old man hell."

Lee nodded "We got pushed, you know?"

Kenny snorted quietly "You don't have to tell me; I was ready to tear the man's head off," he nodded seriously, "anyway, me and Kat, we appreciate your support."

His wife nodded and smiled "Thank you Lee."

Lee noticed how silent Duck was, staring misreably into space. "How's Duck doing?" he asked.

"He's ok, it was just the shock" Katjaa replied, hugging him close.

Kenny stood up straight, "We're lucky as hell nobody got nabbed on the way in here."

"No kidding."

"How are the girls doing?" Katjaa asked, looking over at Clementine in paticular who was holding her walkie-talkie as if she was scared someone would come over and take it from her.

Lee couldn't hold it in anymore, "Well, her family's dead so-"

"That's awful, Lee!" Katjaa whispered tearfully.

"Yeah ... well, she seems to be handling herself alright," Kenny said uncomfortably "they both do actually."

"She's just a little girl, Ken," Katjaa said annoyed "and Alyssa is still young herself."

"Lee says they spent days on their own. That takes toughness!" Kenny pointed out.

Katjaa shook her head "But you have no idea what sort of emotional damage is happening to the both of them every second their family is gone."

"So whats the plan?" Lee asked, changing the subject.

Kenny seemed glad the conversation had changed "Hang tight I suppose. Seems pretty dangerous out there, so we oughta wait for things to clear up."

"You said your family was from here in Macon?" Katjaa asked suddenly.

Lee nodded slowly, "That's right."

"Where are they? Should we go looking for them?"

Lee glanced around to make sure no one else was listening before he gave an answer, "They owned this place" he said sadly "they're ... eh ... gone."

Katjaa touched her face and sighed "Oh sweetie..."

"Kat!" Kenny muttered.

"They were good people, I wasn't around much but yeah, they're dead" Lee pressed his lips together and then nodded, "I'm gonna go see about getting into this pharmacy, talk to you guys later."

Just as he turned to leave, Kenny spoke up. "Lee you got a second?" he nodded and let Kenny walk them away from Katjaa and Duck to the shelves where Kenny just held his head and sighed.

"Back on Hershel's farm.."

Lee closed his eyes, he didn't really want to think about that but knew Kenny needed to talk to someone about it. "Yeah?" he said opening them.

"We didn't even try to save him. That blood is on our hands, you know?"

"It happened really fast," Lee said "one minute it looked like Alyssa was going to get him out, next minute them walkers were on him."

Kenny nodded "I guess, but I can't stop seeing him in my head."

"We can't kill ourselves over it-"

"We killed that boy, we coulda' saved him together!" Kenny muttered angryily.

Lee surpressed a sigh, "We did what we could. Bad things happen. We didn't make a choice that killed Shawn" he looked away in thought, "you think you do when you think back on it. But in a moment? When things are really out of control? You don't have any choice."

Kenny looked saddened "I guess.."

"Try to let it go," Lee consoled him "the worlds different now Kenny, you saved your son thats the main thing to remember." He nodded and headed back to his family, Katjaa gave him a worried look but he shook his head and smiled at her.

He was heading over to the door to check on the outside when he seen Carley messing around with a radio and getting pretty angry, her gun lying next to her on the counter, he pulled up a stool and gave her a nod.

"You're a pretty good shot."

Carley glanced around at Lee and smiled at him, "Well, you don't fuck with a reporter, especially one that's three days out from her last cup of coffee."

Lee noticed the radio sitting at the counter, "What are you messing around with there?" he asked.

"A radio," Carley replied "I can't get it to worth though."

Lee frowned, it looked like a pretty basic radio, "Here, let me have a look." He picked it up and after pressing the 'on' button, he realised there was no batteries after quickly checking. "there's no batteries in this thing."

"What now?"

"You know that there are no batteries in this thing," he said putting it back down on the counter, "don't you?"

Carley looked uncomfortable "Yeah, of course.. I mean yeah ... No." she finally admitted.

Lee chuckled "I can try to find some, needs two."

Carley gave him an embarresed smile, "Thanks. I wouldn't really know what to look for."

Lee walked over to the pharmacy side of the shop and looked up and down the gate for an opening, so he could get in. After a couple of minutes, he realised that it was locked up good and tight and he would need to try and find the keys; god only knew where they were.

"If we could have gotten in with the keys, do you not think we would have done it already?" Lilly asked sarcastically.

Lee ignored her and glanced at her dad who was breathing shallowly, leaning against the shelf. "How's he doing?"

"I'm not sure I got your name" Lilly pointed out suspiciously.

"It's Lee."

"Lilly, my dads Larry," she bit her lip and met his eyes "I was just doing what I had to earlier."

"Everyone was" Lee said calmly.

"You're friend there didn't have to call me a bitch in front of my people," Lilly said a bit angryily as her eyes flickered to Alyssa, "I don't need that shit, ok? It's hard enough to be in charge of people's lives without some dick cutting you down."

"She was just worried about the boy," Lee explained "she didn't mean anything by it."

"Well, that violence before, wth my dad - that didn't help matters."

Lee felt a little guilty, "I'm sorry, it was the heat of the moment, I didn't mean it" he rubbed the back of his neck "what's wrong with him?"

"He's got a heart condition. He takes nitroglycerin tablets pretty reguarly, I've seen a few bad attacks that he couldn't get over and needed to go to the hospital" Lilly said worriedly.

"Yeah, that's not really an option right now, I can see why you worry."

"I'm just trying to keep him relaxed," Lilly told him firmly "I'm going to get back to him now."

Lee opened his mouth to reply but he closed it once he seen the office door next to him with the sign 'alive inside' on it, he was about to open the door when Alyssa walked over, "We going in there I take it?" she asked.

"I am yes, I don't know-"

"You need back up, I'm coming with you."

He knew there was no point in arguing so he opened the door carefully and took a deep breath. The door creaked open as he walked into what was once his Dad's office, he took in the blood-soaked mattress and hastily boarded up doors and felt sorrow as he realised this is where his parents must have died.

Alyssa sensed something change in his manner and she stayed quiet checking out the office for herself. Lee walked over to the mattress and felt his hands begin to shake at the thought of his parent, huddled together in this room scared for their lives.

"I can't ... I can't think about them in here" he whispered to himself. He noticed a broken photoframe next to the mattress and he walked over and slid the photo out from underneath the glass. It was a picture of his family standing outside the pharmacy, he smiled remembering that day; Barry had just passed his pharmaceutical test and Lee had been offered a job up at U.G.A. It was the last time he had seen his parents and brother.

Before he muderered someone.

Frowning, he ripped himself out of the photo and pocketed the half with just his family on it. "Find anything?"

He jumped as Carley appeared right behind him and as he turned, he dropped the ripped photo of himself. "Just a picture of whoever was here" he replied.

"I know who you are" Carley said seriously. "You're Lee Everett. You're a professor at Athens who killed a State Senator who was sleeping with your wife. This is you parent's store; folks around town know the owner's son got himself a life sentence but I'm a reporter for WABE in Atlanta."

Lee glanced at Alyssa who was listening to the conversation and she gave him a nervous smile, "I paid attention to that trial," Carley continued "Mabye you're a murderer. But I don't really care, frankly that's a skill that might come in handy."

Lee snorted and shook his head; this woman was something else.

"Did you tell anyone out there who you were, or that you were tied to this place?"

Lee shook his head, "No, I've been sticking to first names for a reason."

Carley gave him a scrutinising look "You seem like an ok guy and the last thing we need is drama out there. You've got these two girls to take care of, and ... look don't make me wrong on this."

Lee took a step towards her shaking his head, "I don't plan too."

"Good, because if this lasts longer than a few days and you're a detriment to the group, then we'd have a problem."

"I hear you."

Carley met his eyes and nodded "I'll just keep it to myself then."

Lee smiled down at her "Thanks," he said "it means a lot."

She looked away and smiled, turning back she met his eyes one last time "Don't worry about it" and walked out of the office back into the drugstore.

Alyssa walked over and raised an eyebrow, "So you're a murderer then?" she said.

Lee gave her a sad look, "I didn't think you and Clem would stick around if you knew, and if something happened because you both ran away. I wouldn't forgive myself."

"We're safe around you aren't we?" he nodded "well then, like Carley said, it's a useful skill to have these days" she smiled at him "don't worry, we're not going anywhere."

Lee nodded "Thank you Alyssa, it's weird to think we're in a world where being a murderer is a good thing."

"Tell me about it," Alyssa rolled her eyes, "there's not much we can do in here, shall we head back?"

Lee glanced over to the mattress one more time and nodded "Yeah, lets head back."


	7. Chapter 7

Clementine watched as Alyssa and Lee came out of the office and she sighed, wishing she could help more. She leaned against the wall of the counter and looked around the shop, she wished she didn't as everytime she seen the slushy machine she would want one, when she was about to get up and go over to Alyssa her walkie crackled into life;

"Hey there, this is Glenn and uh, I'm kinda in a jam here. Uh, little girl, if you're there can you put your daddy on the phone? Or on the talkiem or whatever?" Clementine waved at Lee who came over straight away and accepted the walkie-talkie off her.

"This is Lee, whats up?"

"So I'm down at the motor inn and .. well I'm stuck." Even down through the walkie-talkie Glenn sounded embarresed.

"Stuck?" Lee repeated confused.

"Yeah, I, uh, saw a chance to get some supplies for the group and a bunch of the roaming ones got the jump on me. I'm hiding over here but they won't leave!"

Kenny noticed Lee's worried look and came over, "Whats up?"

"Glenn's trapped down at the motor inn," Lee explained, he held down the button "Hey Glenn, we're gonna talk it over and send a group to come get you, all right?"

Glenn breathed out with relief "Phew, awesome. I'll sit tight 'till then."

Lee attached the walkie to his belt and gave Clementine a smile as she watched him, "I'm gonna hold onto this until we get Glenn back ok?" he noticed the worry in her face, "I'll take good care of it, I promise." she nodded relunctantly and sat back down on the box.

"What do you think?" Kenny asked him as he walked over.

"Honestly? I think Doug's not great around zombies, and you've got your family here. I'll tale Carley and her dead-eye down to the motor-inn, get Glenn, and get get back here as fast as I can."

Kenny glanced over at Clementine and Alyssa who were looking over at Lee, "If that's what you want to do, I'll keep an eye on the girls while you're gone."

"Somebody's got too" he grinned at Kenny who smiled back.

Carley appeared by his side with her gun in her hand, "Yeah, I'm in."

Lee nodded at her "Good, it doesn't sound too bad there right now."

"Just let me know when you want to head out."

* * *

Once Lee and Carley left through the office, Alyssa had begun searching through most of the shelves and was happy when she found a couple of energy bars lying just underneath the last shelf. Standing up, she headed over to Clementine first and handed her a bar, "It's not much but here you go."

Clementine took it off her and smiled "Thank you."

"Any word from Lee yet?" she asked.

The little girl shook her head, "No, nothing yet. Is he okay?"

Alyssa didn't know what to say but decided to keep a positive mood. "Yeah, I think so, it is Lee remember and he has Carley too, she'll keep an eye on him."

"She'll make sure he and Glenn come back right?"

Alyssa nodded smiling "She's a woman remember, we make everything okay." She turned and looked down at the last bar and felt her stomach grumble. She was tempted to eat it herself but when she glanced up and saw Duck staring misreably into space, she couldn't do it. Walking over to Kenny and his family and held it out in her hand.

"It's not much, but I thought Duck could use something to eat."

"Aww thanks Alyssa, he appreciates it," Kenny said smiling at her.

"That's sweet Alyssa," Katjaa said as Duck began to eat the energy bar, "at least he will have something in him."

Alyssa smiled back at the family "No problem, we gotta stick together and look out for each other."

* * *

As Lee and Carley walked towards the motel-inn, they kept their eyes open for any sign on Glenn, Lee didn't feel safe at all out in the open and from the look on her face; it was clear that Carley would rather be back at the drugstore.

He luckily glanced over just as a walker stood up "Shit! Get down!" he hissed at Carley and the both fell to the ground taking cover behind the wall. The walker growled and looked around before stumbling back to the dead body it had been eating.

Lee let out a long held in breath, and peeked over the wall, he heard a creaking and noticed the doors to the ice machine moving, "Did you see that?" Carley asked.

"Sure did," Lee whispered. They stood up slowly and Carley brought out her gun, "be ready to shoot" Lee added.

The doors opened and they saw a relived looking Glenn peering out at them, "Guys! Oh man, I'm glad you're here!" he said looking around and quietly sneaking out.

"Jesus Glenn" Carley shook her head and lowered her gun. He hopped over the wall and crouched down with them, as they heard the walkers growling and snarling at each other.

"All right, that wasn't so hard." Lee said.

Carley looked around, "Can we get out of here before any of these things notice us?"

Glenn shook his head, "Not yet, there's a survivor trapped up there" Glenn pointed to the corner room of the motor-inn where two zombies were banging on the walls.

Carley looked angry, "No way, we gotta go. NOW!"

"Listen, I was out here looking for gas, and then up there in the corner room. I heard crying coming from the inside."

"Who is it?" Lee asked concerned.

"It's a girl, we talked and she got frightened. I was trying to get in and help her and she started yelling and saying I was bitten. I tried to convince her I wasn't and that's when all of these guys came out of the forest. A couple almost got me and I ended up hiding in the ice machine."

Carley didn't look impressed "Lucky you; now let's go!"

"We can't just leave her!" Glenn whispered at her outraged.

Lee shook his head, he wouldn't have been able to live with himself if he didn't try to help a fellow survivor. "Damn right, we can't!"

"You guys are suicidal. Over a girl!" Carley hissed in disbelief.

Glenn frowned "I'm saving her, with or without you" he said stubbornly.

"Think about if it was you!" Lee pointed out.

Carley rolled her eyes but relented "Fine. Let's go save Glenn's damsel in distress."

* * *

As time went on, and the others hadn't came back yet. Alyssa looked around for something to occupy herself with and picked up the radio that Carley had been messing around with before she had left with Lee and was glad when she seen that the batteries she found had fit perfectly, she clicked the back back onto the radio and turned it over and hit the power button, there was a lot of crackling and white noise before a voice came through;

"... the estimated death toll continues to skyrocket. WABE urges you to stay indoors and avoid any contact with individuals you suspect may have been exposed. In the event of a full ..." there was disturbance noises in the background and Alyssa frowned as she tried to hear the rest of the broadcast, "... my producer is telling me we have to get off the air-" crashes and screams could be heard in the background and Alyssa's heart sunk. "-WABE wishes you and your loved ones ... god bless you all ..."

The radio lost signal and once again the drugstore was in silence, Alyssa glanced up at Kenny and Katjaa who looked shocked at what they just heard. "Help is still coming, right?" Clementine asked slowly looking at the rest of them, "there's still people out there who can save us?"

"Course there is Clementine," Katjaa said at once, "we mustn't lose our hope."

Alyssa and Kenny shared a look; they knew that no one was coming to help anytime soon.

* * *

After Lee glanced around and took in his surroundings, he saw that there were six walkers around the motor-inn, if they did this quietly, they wouldn't have to deal with anymore and they could get this done quick and easy without any casualties. "Ok, this is the plan. We don't know how hard it's going to be to get her hout of that room."

Glenn nodded "Yeah, it's boarded up."

"So we have to kill every one of them in here," he noticed Carley get her gun out "quietly! Noise attracts these things. Now let's have a look around." He peeked around the wall and spotted a pillow, he quickly grabbed it and hid behind the wall again. If they needed too, they could shoot the gun in the pillow and muffle the noise.

Carley noticed this and raised her eyebrow "Good luck smothering them to death.." she said sarcastically.

"Thats not really what I had in mind" Lee replied just as sarcastic. He looked up the road and wondered if there were any weapons up there.

"I saw one lurking on the other side of that car" Glenn said to him as they creeped up the wall.

"I see him," he whispered back as they took cover behind a large green truck. He glanced inside and saw a screwdriver but knew he couldn't get in without making a lot of noise, the walker leaning against the car wasn't much of a threat ... now and there was one swaying on the spot just in front of the car. Lee thought about the situation and came up with a plan.

"Get out your gun."

Carley looked confused "But the noise-"

"Just follow my lead; stay right behind me" he said.

They sneaked up to the walker who turned his head, or what was left of it as they approached and began to try and stand up, acting quickly, Lee shoved the pillow over the walkers head so the other ones wouldn't hear it and Carley quickly shot a bullet through the pillow into the walkers brain.

Lee dropped the now blood-soaked pillow and the walker dropped down dead in front of them, Glenn peered around from the truck "That was sick!" he said amazed as he came over to join them.

Opening the door quietly and hoping there was no alarm activated, Lee put it into neutral and something caught his eye sitting on the drivers seat. He picked it up and looked at it closely "It's ... uh a sparky thing" he said to Carley who shrugged.

"I'll take your word for it"

"Sparkplug," Glenn corrected him "you should hold onto that, could come in handy."

"Whatever, come on, help me push this car, we can pin that walker against the wall and keep him out our way" Lee whispered, they all pushed the car and watched as it rolled down the ramps it was on and cruise with increasing speed towards the walker at the wall.

The walker saw it coming but it's growls never stopped the car and soon it was pinned between the car and the wall. "Good plan Lee!" Carley said as they hurried back to the truck for cover.

"And I've got an idea how to get that screwdriver out of the truck," Glenn said "let me see the sparkplug; the porcelain inside these things turns car windows to tissue paper!" he put the sparkplug on the ground and stamped on it. Picking up one of the shards, he handed it to Lee who stood and threw it at the window.

The glass shattered without much noise and even the walkers above them didn't take any notice, Lee reached in and picked up the screwdriver. "That could scramble a brain pretty good!" Glenn said.

"That's exactly what I was thinking" Lee glanced over at the RV, "there's two more over there we need to deal with, come on."

They sneaked back over to where they first hid and Lee looked to Carley, "You stay here and cover us if anything goes wrong, but only if you need too. Me and Glenn can handle this."

"We can?" Glenn asked unsure.

Carley rolled her eyes at him but nodded "Don't worry, I've got your backs covered."

"Not really my back I want covering!" Glenn muttered but followed Lee as he sneaked behind the walker eating and stopped in front of the RV. Lee glanced behind him and saw a walker just standing there, he'd get that one first.

Giving a low whistle made the zombie stumble closer to him, and Lee waited till he was near enough before he quickly stabbed the screwdriver into the walkers head several times before it crumpled to the floor in a bloody heap. The other one came growling over at Glenn who picked up a board and hit it in the face, "Lee, get him!" Glenn said backing away.

Taking aim he quickly disposed of the other walker and it too fell to the ground, Carley came up and nodded "Nice job, good to see a man who can use his tools."

Glenn snorted "I bet you say that to all the guys" Carley punched his arm and he soon fell quiet, leading the way to the stairs, he noticed the axe incase of emergencies next to the walker they had trapped by the car. That would do more damage than a screwdriver.

With one good thrust, the screwdriver went right through the walkers forehead and embedded itself into it's brain. It fell forward onto the car, pushing the screwdriver even more into it's head. "Dude, where'd your weapon go?" Glenn asked him.

"Into that ice-pick sized hole."

"Haha, holy shit, good shot!" Glenn laughed "it's cool now we got this!" he added as Lee picked up the axe.

"Are you two done?" Carley asked exasperated.

"We will be when those two are dealt with," Lee said glancing up at the balcony where the woman was trapped, he headed over to the stairs and paused "why don't you guys lag behind; just in case this goes to hell" he turned to them.

Carley nodded "Ok, we'll be right behind you."

Walking quietly up the stairs with the axe in his hand, Lee walked along the balcony. Every step taking him closer to the walkers. He felt nervous but forced himself to think about the poor woman trapped by them, she needed help and help was on the way.

As he approached one walker noticed him and began to stumble towards him, he swung the axe and sliced through it's head. Blood spurted out and hit the wall and his side but he didn't notice as the last zombie raised itself up and went for him, raising the axe he managed to behead it and push it over the railings.

"Rad ... just so rad."

Glenn and Carley had caught up to him by then and Lee shook his head at Glenn's choice of words; the world had clearly gone crazy if he was 'rad' for beheading someone.

He knocked on the door "Hello in there, we're here to help!" he called out.

A frantic voice replied to him before he could say anything else, "Please, just go away!"

Carley put a hand on her hip and sighed "Let's go guys," she said "she obviously doesn't want any help."

"In a minute."

Lee tried again, "If you open up, we can take you somewhere safer. We've got a group in town."

"No, no, no! PLEASE!"

Glenn looked worried "She's in trouble!"

"Miss! We're coming in!" Lee said and using the axe, he broke off the bit of wood stopping the door from opening. He tried the handle and when it wouldn't open he began to start trying to kick the door in.

"STOP!" the woman inside the room shouted "just stop! I'm ... coming out."

The door opened and a haggard, tired looking young woman came out, her t-shirt covered in blood and she looked like she hadn't slept in days. "You're hurt.." Lee said softly, taking in the blood.

"Oh god.." Carley whispered.

The woman began to cry a little "I .. I said stay away."

"We need to get you help!" Glenn said urgently.

The woman shook her head and wiped her eyes "It's too late for that."

"Guys, she's been bitten!" Carley pointed out.

"WHAT?!"

"I told you!" she snapped at Glenn "I said go away, I'm bit. But you wouldn't just leave!"

Lee stepped in between them, noticing how Carley kept her gun out. "Let's calm down, you could be fine."

"I won't be fine" she replied in a defeated voice, "my boyfriend was bitten. You get sick and you die and you come back and you kill anything you can find!"

There was silence until Glenn sighed, "You have a boyfriend?" he asked.

Carley shot him an annoyed look, "Glenn!" she hissed.

"I don't want that!" the bitten woman continued "it's not Christian. Please, just leave me, please go."

Lee knew there was no saving her and he nodded sadly "Ok, we'll leave. Just try to take care of yourself, for whatever time you have left."

She nodded back to him and her head drooped, then she caught sight of Carley's gun. "You have a gun?" she asked.

"So?" Carley replied slowly.

"Can I borrow it?" the woman asked desperately.

"What do you mean 'borrow'?"

"Give it to me? I can just, you know, end this and then ... then there's no problem!"

Lee's eyes widened "Whoa, whoa, whoa ..." he interrupted.

The woman shot him a pleading look "PLEASE! I don't want to be one of them. They're ... they're satanic!"

Lee looked at her sickly face and realised that this was what she truly wanted, to not suffer and become one of the walking dead. It would be cruel to deny her this peace. "Give it to her."

Carley shot him a frown "What? You can't be serious!"

"Do it."

"NO!"

Lee sighed, "Look at her Carley," he said and she glanced at the other woman,"there's no happy ending to this!"

The fight went out of her once she looked at the woman "Ok .. fine." She placed the gun on the ground between them and the bitten woman picked it up looking relieved.

"Thank you so much," she said tiredly with a weak smile "I know how terrible this must be."

Glenn shook his head "We can't watch this. Let's go" he said in a wretched voice.

"We can't go yet" Carley said sadly.

"What?! Why not?" Glenn asked angryily.

"Because somebody needs to pick up the gun. We can't leave it" Lee took a deep breath and rubbed his face "you two go on."

Glenn nodded and began to walk towards the stairs, Carley followed but stopped and glanced back "You sure?"

"Yeah," he nodded "go make sure Glenn is okay."

She followed Glenn and Lee turned to the woman who seemed a lot calmer than when she first came out of the room. "I'm here with you" he said comfortingly.

She smiled at him as she raised the gun to her head. "You're a good man" she said before pulling the trigger.


	8. Chapter 8

"Everyone alright?" Kenny asked as Lee came through the door followed by Carley and Glenn, Alyssa and Clementine gave him a wide smile and he nodded back at them.

"Yeah, we had some close calls but Glenn is fine and .. well yeah .. we're ok."

Glenn stuffed his hands into his pockets and kept his eyes on the floor, "I've got a few cans of gas for you're pickup in the trunk of my car" he said in a numb tone.

Kenny noticed this and looked at Lee who shook his head, "Well, good to hear it."

"And things back here?" Carley asked as Glenn walked away and stood with his back against the wall furthest away from them.

"Quiet," Kenny said "our 'friend' is in and out over there. He won't survive much more stress."

Lee nodded "The next order of business is getting those pills out of the pharmacy," he turned to Alyssa who walked up to him "did you find the keys?" he asked her.

"Nope, looked everywhere while you were gone and didn't see them."

"Damn" Lee cursed.

"But what I did see was a guy in overalls outside, he was trapped under a telephone pole, mabye he's got the keys."

"What were you doing outside?" Lee asked.

Alyssa sighed "Don't get mad, it's safe, there's a gate outside and as long as your quiet the freaks don't come near you. Doug came with me."

"Well, you go out and try and match him to this picture," Lee said "mabye he did work here, and I'll go clear the office so we can get them straight away."

"On it boss!"

"Hey, be careful and don't fuck around out there okay? Take the axe just in case."

"I won't and hey, Lee?" Alyssa bit her lip "these people in the picture ... are they your family?"

Lee hesistated before he nodded "They are, they owned this place."

"I'm sorry, I'm kind of hoping he is and isn't your brother outside" she said sadly.

"Me too, well jump to it, I'll take Clem into the office to keep an eye on her."

Alyssa walked over to Doug with the axe in her hands and they both slipped outside, Lee caught Kenny and Katjaa sharing a look and knew his 'parenting' techniques were being scrutinised. Sighing, he waved over Clementine who immediantly stood and followed him over to the office.

Once they were inside, Lee looked down at her and smiled. "Everyone out there seem alright to you?"

She thought before nodding, "Yeah .. well mabye not the sick guy."

Lee chuckled, even Clementine didn't like Larry. "Yeah, we'll keep an eye on him."

She chewed on her lip "There was that thing in the bathroom, it tried to get me."

"I know."

"But you stopped it!" Lee nodded and Clementine looked up at him "can you do that more?"

"Well, I'm not going to go looking for them."

"I mean get the dangerous ones." Clementine said in a 'obviously' tone.

"If anything or anyone tries to hurt you or Alyssa, then I will get them" Lee promised the little girl who looked a little happier at this. Lee left her standing by the door and he began to move the pallet that lay against the entrance to the pharmacy, once he moved it he heard something fall and he looked down.

It was his dad's cane.

Pushing the pallet out of the way, he leaned down and picked it up. "What's that?" Clementine asked him as she walked up to him.

"This was my dad's cane. He'd zip around here on it from time to time."

"Was he sick?"

Lee chuckled "Nah, he was ok. I actually saw him whoop shoplifters with it," he remembered the shocked looks on the boys faces when his dad opened a can of whoop ass on them, "this cane's protected this place better than any guard dog ever could." Feeling a little saddened by memories of his father, he gently propped the cane up against the wall. "Plus he knew how to make it look cool. Like you with your hat."

Clementine smiled "My dad gave it to me."

"See dad's are smart like that" he glanced back at the huge desk that blocked their way, "better get this door clear, huh?"

"Can I help?" Clementine begged him with her eyes and Lee smiled.

"Sure, here we go, watch your fingers in the drawers." They both moved the desk at the same time and managed between them to pull it back from the door, "Things have been scary, huh?" Lee asked her quietly.

Clementine was silent but she nodded, "Yeah, it's not good. I don't know why everyone is crazy."

Lee shook his head, "Neither do I, Clementine. Nobody does I don't think."

"I bet my dad does ..."

Lee noticed her eyes welling up and changed the subject, "Ok, here we go, another great push from Clem and Lee."

Swivelling the desk around, Clementine stopped and looked at Lee, "Do you have kids?" she asked him curiously.

"No, I don't." It wasn't something he and his ex-wife ever discussed, she didn't want to ruin her figure with children and in her opinion that was the end of it.

"You don't have a family?"

Lee sighed, "Let's not talk about that ... do you play sports?" he asked her.

Clementine wrinkled her nose as she watched him move the desk, "I play soccer but I don't really like it."

"I'm not crazy about it either" he gave her a smile "alright a little further." They were about to push it against the wall, finally moving the desk out of the way when Clementine suddenly asked;

"Why don't you want to talk about your family? Do they like ... hate you?"

Lee shook his head "I wouldn't blame them," he answered honestly.

"Why? Did you fight?" she looked down sadly "I fight with my mom sometimes.."

Lee looked down at the desk, "We didn't fight, we just didn't talk for a while" hoping it would make her understand, Lee kneeled down to Clementine's height and looked her in the eyes "look, my family is gone and I just wish things would've been different."

Clementine just nodded at him sadly and Lee thought for a moment; if she was going to be with him through this, she deserved to know the truth like Alyssa did but he couldn't bring himself to tell an eight year old he was a murderer. "I ... got into a fight once," he explained.

"What happened?"

"It ended really badly and after that I wasn't allowed to talk to my family."

Clementine's eyes softened at his words, "Thats so sad..."

Lee nodded "Let's move this thing."

* * *

"Holy shit," Alyssa whispered as she and Doug crouched down behind the gate, "there's so many."

The street was full of even more walkers since she last went out, she looked across the street at the one trapped beneath the telephone pole; she had to get over to him to check if he had the keys.

The walkers fell upon a dead body and began tearing at the body and devouring it's flesh, Doug covered his mouth with his hand and retched, "I think I'm going to be sick."

Alyssa looked around "They just ..."

"Eat," Doug finished her sentence "as far as I can tell, that's all they care about."

"And if one gets you.."

"They eat you, and whatever is left comes back as one of them."

"How the fuck did this happen?" she said outloud, this was the stuff nightmares were made of.

Doug shook his head helplessly "I think it might be more than a couple of days till this gets sorted out."

Alyssa nodded and lowered herself down even more "Yeah, I think you're right. We better keep it down out here." She was glad she had the axe there for protection as Doug didn't seem the fighting type like Kenny and Lee.

She brought out the picture Lee gave her and her eyes flickered between the walker and the photo, her heart ached a little when she realised that it was Lee's brother lying there. "That guy over there has the keys" she whispered.

Doug glanced over and frowned "How can you be sure?"

"Lee found this picture in the office," she showed him the picture "that guy in the photo worked here. The keys being on him is as good a bet as we can make."

Doug thought for a moment before nodding "Yeah, I agree. We just need to figure out how to get out there and get them."

"I think it should be me to go get them," Alyssa said "no offense but I'm younger and can run faster than you - probably" she added kindly.

Doug smiled and nodded, "I'll keep a look out for you, but first we need to figure out a way to distract those other things. You wouldn't need long right?"

"Just need to stick the axe in his head and look for the keys, a minute would do."

Alyssa looked around and tensed up when a walker stumbled closer to the gate, but at the last moment it veered off to the left and continued down the street, she was quite glad it was out of sight, out of mind with the walkers. There was a TV store right across the street and she remembered the tv remote that she had found in the office.

"If only this worked," she said lamely as she brought out the remote and pressed the on button at the store, instead of laughing, Doug looked thoughtful.

"You know what might work ..." Doug finally said taking the remote off of her and pressing the buttons "it's universal; I could program it to work with those TV's across the street. Let's just hope the power is still on."

"You can just do that?" Alyssa asked amazed, she was lucky to get the VCR working with the remote at home.

"I memorised all the codes when I was in AV, let's try" he aimed the remote over at the store and by magic all the TVs came on and the static shone bright in the dark.

"Well fuckin' done Doug!" Alyssa whispered happily "all that so-called dork nonsense might save a life!"

"Who's to say it already hasn't," a few walkers stopped and stared in at the TV store, "that got a few of them to take notice" Doug pointed out.

After a few seconds the walkers continued on their way and ignored the TV's in the window. "But not enough," Alyssa said misreably, she glanced down and seen a brick sitting just out of her reach beyond the gate. If she aimed just right...

"What are you doing?" Doug asked fearfully as she stood up and raised the axe to the gate.

"What I have too!" she replied and with one quick swing, she managed to break the lock off without attracting any unwanted attention, it fell to the ground and Doug gave her a serious look.

"I hope you know what you're doing!"

"Makes two of us" she replied softly, opening the gate a little and grabbing the brick, she stood and took a deep breath, she only had one chance of this. Stepping out the gate a little, while looking around she raised her arm and threw the brick as hard as she could at the TV store window. The glass shattered and they could hear the white noise of the TVs, the walkers hearing it immediantly headed towards the store. Clamouring inside to try and eat the TVs, every single one in the street attempted to get in the shop and soon it was clear with only one trapped walker.

"Now's the time" Alyssa said bravely "watch my back!"

"Be careful," Doug said standing with one hand on the door handle.

Alyssa sneaked along towards the trapped walker and saw he had keys in his front pocket, she could have cried in happiness if not for the fact she'd have to kill Lee's brother. It looked up at her, it's eyes white and face half eaten and made moaning noises as it tried to grab her with it's one free hand. "I'm sorry I need to do this to you, but I promise I'll look out for your brother" she whispered, raising the axe and using all her might she swung it down and hit it in the neck.

It took three more swings, before she managed to kill it and she felt sick as the blood poured out of the gash in it's neck and head, she could see the damaged brain peeking out and she wanted to vomit at the sight of it but she managed to hold it in. Breathing heavily, she leaned down and grabbed the keys out of his pocket and straightened up, nodding at Doug she smiled and he stuck his thumb up at her before turning and all colour drained from his face.

"Holy crap!" he cursed "RUN!"

* * *

"Oww!"

Lee looked up and saw Clementine holding her finger and staring down at it horrified. "Are you ok?" he asked straightining up.

"I hurt my finger!"

"Is it bleeding?"

She nodded "A little."

Lee picked her up and sat her on the desk, his dad always kept a first aid kit in the office. He just hoped it was still here, "I'll find you a bandage" he said comfortingly. Lee looked around and spotted the first aid box on the shelves above the desk and was happy to see there was still some plasters in it.

He walked back over to Clementine and kneeled down, "Now, let's have a look at that finger," it was quite a sore looking cut and he winced "ow."

"It hurts" Clementine whimpered.

Lee smiled up at her "Let's get this cut covered up," and he unwrapped the plaster "you'll be fighting fit in no time."

"Thanks!" Clementine said as he gently wrapped the plaster around her cut. They shared a smile when he was done and he stood up.

"Now that's the door cleared, lets go back into the drugstore and see if Alyssa came up with anything."

They came back in just as Alyssa and Doug ran through the door, Lee frowned as he spotted blood on the axe and splatters of it on her clothes. "Clem, you stay here while I go talk to Alyssa, okay?"

"Okay"

He headed over and gave her a worried look, "What the hell happened out there?" he asked.

"Man, that was close!" Doug sighed.

"It was him, he had the keys," Alyssa said as she leant over to catch her breath, "but we did it, I got them."

Lee gave her shoulder a small squeeze "I'm sorry you had to do that, but I'm so proud you got the keys."

Alyssa smiled and nodded "I'm awesome, thought you would have picked up on that already" she glanced over at Lilly, "I'll let you handle this next part, I'll just keep an eye on the door" she met his eyes "we may have company soon."

Lee didn't waste anytime and went over to Lilly, "Alyssa managed to get the keys," he said to her as she stood up looking hopeful "we can get into the pharmacy now."

"Great!" Lilly said smiling "let's get in there."

They headed through to the office and Lee felt a bit more safer, they had the keys, they could get the medicine and nobody died. He opened the door and took one step in and then suddenly the sound of the alarm rang loudly in his ears.

Lilly closed her eyes "Oh no."

"Ah shit!" Lee cursed.


	9. Chapter 9

Inside the Drugstore it was pandemonium with everyone rushing around, Doug stayed by the door as did Alyssa pushing against the hoarde of walkers attempting to get in.

"Duck, c'mon baby, time to go!" Katjaa said holding onto her son tightly, Carley stood reloading her gun and Kenny ran towards the exit door.

"I'm gonna get the truck pulled 'round back!" he shouted.

Lilly came back through helping her dad to stand, "Do it fast!" she said walking through to the office with him, "I've got to get my dad out of there!"

"I don't plan on dilly-dallying!" Kenny snapped, he turned to Katjaa, "honey, take Duck into the office and barricade the living hell out of the door behind me." Katjaa nodded and ran after Lilly and Larry with Duck holding onto her hand.

"Glenn, when you hear me honking in the alley, start getting people out of here!" Kenny ordered.

He nodded "You got it."

"Doug, Carley and Lee, you guys make sure our defences stay up till then!" he paused and looked at Alyssa still holding the axe, "and Alyssa, I better take that axe in case I run into any of them on the way to my truck!"

Alyssa threw it towards him and he deftly caught it, "I'll come with you for backup!" she said. They heard the snarls and roars of the walkers as they came through the gate. "Guys that door's not locked anymore!" Doug said urgently.

"Shit! You three get on it! We'll get back as fast as we can!" Kenny ran out of the room with Alyssa following him, Doug, Carley and Glenn all pushed against the door as the walkers began to ram themselves at it outside.

"Stay away from the windows!" Lee told Clementine and she stayed just opposite them behind the counter.

"Glenn! We need your help!" they heard Katjaa call from the office "please hurry!"

Lee ran up to the door, "Go hurry! I've got this!" he said taking Glenn's place as he ran towards the office, it was getting harder to shut the doors after each push and Lee seen glimpses of the walkers through the crack.

"Hey Lee?" Doug said looking up "if we don't make it through this, you should know that ... I think you're a great guy!"

"We will make it through this!" Lee snapped "don't go saying stuff like that!"

Carley closed her eyes as the doors thumped open a little again, "Doug, if we don't make it through this, you should know-" her eyes opened as the doors opened a little more and Lee turned pushing with all his might to close them again. Luckily he managed too and kept a tight hold of the handles.

"I should know what?" Doug asked.

Carley was distracted by the increasing weight being pushed against the door, "Huh?!"

"You said I should know-"

The bookshelf against the window suddenly lurched forward as walkers pushed it away, "SHIT!" Carley cried and got out her gun and shot the walkers before they could get through, each time aiming at their heads. She ran to get her purse and reload while Lee glanced at the window, they needed something to lock the door shut before anymore got through.

"Clementine, can you look for something to stick in between the handles? Something real strong, ok?" Lee winced as the door pushed against him and cracked his shoulder.

"Ok!" she nodded quickly and ran over to the counter looking desperately.

The sudden push of the door knocked Lee off balance and he stumbled forward, shoving the door with his shoulder he quickly managed to shut it but he didn't know if he could do it much longer. "Clementine! Did you find anything?"

"Nothing!" she cried out then her eyes widened "oh wait!" and she ran off.

Carley continued to shoot any stray walkers but more kept coming through, "That window is screwed!" Doug said helplessly.

"GO!"

Doug ran off and tried to secure the other window while Lee determinedly kept the door shut, he wasn't sure he could hold it any longer when Clementine suddenly ran up with his dad's cane in her hands. "I found something!" she said holding it out to him.

He grabbed it and stuck it inbetween the handles and it held against the onslaught of walkers. "Good jo-"

"AHHH! Get it off, get it off!" Doug screamed as walker hands reached through the planks of wood and grabbed at him.

He was about to run over when he seen Carley begin to panic "SHIT! I'm out, I'm out!" a walker had managed to get in and was holding onto her ankle and she was just out of reach of her purse, "LEE! Help! Ammo, in my purse!"

Deciding that Carley had less time than Doug, he ran over and got the ammo out of her purse and threw it at her, she caught it and quickly reloaded shooting the walker heading her way and then the one at her feet. Seeing she was safe, Lee ran over to Doug but just before he reached him, Doug was pulled through the window and out onto the street.

Clementine screamed and Lee could only watch horrified as the walkers began to devour Doug as he still screamed and writhed, feeling sick, he grabbed Clementine and headed over to Carley who had a hand over her mouth looking terrified.

Kenny came bursting through the door, carrying the axe "LET'S GO!" he shouted.

"Follow Carley!" Lee shouted.

"They got Doug .. they ... they!" he heard Carley mutter.

"Doesn't matter, you gotta MOVE!" Larry shouted.

Clementine ran up the aisle but fell suddenly as a legless walker grabbed at her leg. "LEE!" she screamed terrified "HELP!"

He ran over and stomped on the walkers head as hard as he could and it released it's hold on Clementine's leg and she scurried away as Lee stomped on it one more time as it lay still, Larry held the door open as Clementine ran through and Lee quickly followed glancing behind to make sure no other walkers followed them but Larry pushed him away from the door.

"You're not coming with us, you son of a bitch!" he snarled and punched Lee hard in the face. He fell backwards and struggled to come too, he could hear Clementine shouting but couldn't get up as his eyes felt heavy and he tried to force them open.

As he opened his eyes he saw Kenny come through and raise the axe, bringing it down hard on the walkers head that had tried to grab Clementine. Lee felt his heart beat faster after he saw how close he had been to getting eaten by the walker.

"I'm not letting someone else get eaten today!" Kenny said offering his hand out to him, "especially a good friend."

He pulled Lee to his feet and they followed the others out to the office and Lee slammed the door shut as walkers broke through the window and swarmed into the drugstore, images of a half eaten Doug rushing through his guilt ridden mind.

The group managed to make it to the motor-inn safetly and decided to sleep there for the night, after piling all of the dead outside they began to look for any supplies that could come in handy.

Katjaa and Kenny looked through several boxes while Clementine watched sadly as Lilly dragged the dead body of a walker onto the pile, closing her eyes she walked away and leaned against the RV looking shaken, Duck noticed her and went over and began talking quickly at her trying to make her feel better, but it wasn't working.

Alyssa stood by Glenn's car listening to the radio with him and Lee noticed the look of defeat on her face, whatever they were saying couldn't have been good.

He glanced down and looked at the photo of his now dead family, he knew Alyssa had to kill his brother to get the keys and inside he was quite relieved he didn't have to do it. God knows if he would have been able too.

Hearing gunshots, he looked up and out into the darkness where he could hear screams and shouts as the gunshots got further away. Lee just hoped they wouldn't have anymore trouble tonight. Pocketing the picture, he walked towards Glenn and Alyssa hearing a bit of the transmission:

"-current levels of disaster as is follows - Atlanta, stage 9 catastrophe, Augusta stage 9 catastrophe-"

"I think I need to go," Glenn said quietly shaking his head.

Alyssa raised an eyebrow "To Atlanta?" she asked incredulously.

"Yeah ... I got friends there, and I just can't stay here knowing that they could be trapped in that city."

Lee rubbed the back of his neck "It sounds like nobody knows what's happening there. When we left a few days ago it could've gone either way."

"I gotta take my chances," Glenn said "I wouldn't forgive myself."

"It's a stupid idea, you'll get killed!" Alyssa snapped "did you not just hear what they said? Stage 9 catastrophe, that means it's bad there Glenn!"

"She's right Glenn, I think you're making the wrong call" Lee said.

Glenn shook his head, "Mabye, but I'd rather make the wrong call and know, then make the right call and not."

"It's still a stupid idea."

Lee shot Alyssa a look and she rolled her eyes "Whatever, you want to go get eaten. Knock yourself out." She walked away shaking her head.

"I can respect your decision," Lee said to Glenn once Alyssa was out of earshot "you gotta do what you gotta do."

"You guys be safe," Glenn nodded to Lee.

"We'll try."

"And Lee, you know ... if this doesn't get better. People ARE going to give up, like the girl from upstairs." Glenn said quietly looking up to the room where the girl had been hiding. He gave Lee an annoyed look after he stayed quiet "Are you just going to let them? You told Carley to give her the gun."

"Yeah I did and I'd do the same over, that poor girl was going to suffer till her last breath."

Glenn lowered his eyes "Mabye you were right, I don't know how to handle something like that" he gave him a weak smile "anyway, seeya around."

"Take care of yourself," Lee said as he got into the car "and good luck!"

Glenn nodded and started the car driving out of the exit, Lee watched as his car drove down the road and into the darkness; he hoped nothing bad would happen to Glenn.

Sighing he walked over to Kenny and Katjaa, Kenny noticed him and stopped what he was doing. "Close call back there" he said to Lee.

"Thanks for picking me up" Lee replied holding out his hand to Kenny, who shook it straightaway.

"No problem" Kenny smiled at him "we have to take care of each other."

"Yeah, we do" Lee agreed "especially now."

"Earlier, I mentioned you gotta ask yourself what you're gonna do if Clementine's or Alyssa's parents don't show," Kenny said seriously "you think that's gonna happen?"

"Their parents showing up?" Lee glanced over at Clementine, he knew for sure hers weren't coming back and Alyssa didn't seem too worried about finding hers "No, I don't."

Kenny looked saddened by this but gave a weak smile "Well I want you to know that I think you've got it in you, I think you can take care of those girls just fine."

"Thanks Kenny, I appreciate it."

"You got it" Kenny said heading back over to Katjaa and giving her a comforting hug. Lee looked over to Alyssa who was sitting on the bumper of the RV next to Clementine, not even taking in what Duck was garbling on about, he was about to head over when he saw Carley searching through a box with her hands shaking and he quickly went over to make sure she was ok.

"How are you doing Carley?" he asked sadly.

"I'm okay, you know ... considering" she replied stopping her search and meeting his eyes "I can't stop thinking about Doug ... we couldn't have saved him, could we?"

"I don't think so," Lee answered honestly "it happened pretty fast."

Carley tucked her hair behind her ear looking wretched "I know it's stupid .. we'd just met .. and he was such a .. it's just that ... I think I liked him."

Lee offered her a kind smile "Well, I'm sure he liked you too, who wouldn't."

"Ha, he better have" Carley joked returning his smile, "anyway .. I'd rather be alone I think."

Lee nodded, "I understand" and he turned to go check on the girls but Carley put a hand on his arm.

"Wait, Lee?"

"What is it?"

Carley looked upset "How did you choose?" she asked softly "we both needed you ... you picked me."

"I was going to help you both, it looked like you didn't have a lot of time so I helped you first and then ..." he drifted off not wanting to think about what happened to Doug.

"I just wish we both could've made it, you know?" she said looking down.

"Me too Carley" Lee left her to her thoughts and went to go talk to Alyssa and Clementine, on his way over he glanced at Larry who was glaring at him from the stairs, Lee remembered how he had tried to stop him from getting away and felt the anger build inside of him.

"-it was all like Pow! Pow! Pow! Then the super dinosaur was toast! But you know what? He wasn't!" Duck garbled on and Alyssa looked up at Lee with a pleading look.

"Hey, Duck," Lee interrupted him before he could start again, "you want to cool it for a minute?"

"Okay, sorry."

Lee knelt down to Clementine's height and gave her an apologetic look as Duck wandered back to his parents, "I'm sorry theres .. uh .. not a lot of kids here."

Clementine looked down and shook her head "No, it's not that. It's I got grabbed again."

Lee nodded "You did, but I was there though."

"Thats not what she's upset about" Alyssa said quietly.

Lee shot her a confused look but before she could say anything Clementine let out a dry sob, "I fell ... and my walkie-talkie broke. Glenn had the other one."

"Aw, I'm sorry Clem" he said comfortingly.

"Thanks, I know I need to be tough. I'm just sad" her bottom lip wobbled and her voice got a little higher "I know it doesn't make any sense but it's how I used to talk to my mom and dad and now they're gone ... it's gone."

"Mabye we can find you another one?" Lee said

"Or fix your one?" Alyssa said, rubbing her back soothingly.

"I'll just keep this one I guess" Clementine said misreabley.

He was about to comfort Clementine when Larry spoke up from the shadows, "Lee, come here for a sec."

Alyssa glanced between them and gave Lee a nod, "It's okay, I'll stay here with Clementine." As soon as Lee stood up and walked away, Duck came running over and began to talk about the movie he had seen with the super dinosaur.

"What do you want?" Lee said in a dangerous tone as he neared Larry.

"You like my daughter?" he asked catching Lee off guard.

Lee folded his arms and looked at him sarcastically, "Her dad tried to kill me so ..."

Larry frowned at him "Well, he did that because he knows that Lee Everett is a convicted murderer and so will everyone else if you go near her, you hear me?" he took a step towards Lee who looked back at him threateningly,"I know who you are, and I don't give a shit about what happens to you!" he poked him hard in the chest "but if anything happens to my daughter or that little girl you've got with you ... hell, you watch your ass!" he pushed by him and headed over to the boxes under the balcony, Lee had half a mind to follow him when Lilly stepped in front of him.

"Hey Lee, do you have a second?" she asked, Lee glanced behind him and saw Larry watching him like a hawk.

"Sure."

"My dad would be dead if it weren't for you" Lilly said with a tone of appreciation.

Lee looked down at his hands and felt the guilt eating away at him, "That guy Doug is dead .. because of me."

Lilly frowned and shook her head, "You can't be like that. You're only one man."

"I don't know..."

"We're lucky to have you," Lilly assured him "and I really mean that."

Lee looked up and shot her a grateful smile, when the sound of heavy gunfire and explosions echoed around the motor-inn. "I hope that's the sound of us winning this thing!" Kenny said as he walked up to them.

"Me too" Lilly nodded.

"This motor-inn's pretty damn defendable. We block off the entrances with some cars and keep someone on watch and we could stay here till the military rolls through" Kenny said as he began to walk towards the road, Lilly and Lee followed him and Lilly nodded.

"I actually agree with that plan," she said.

"Makes three of us" Lee agreed.

"We've got bed; we've got water and most importantly, we've got light. There are worse places to call home" Kenny pointed out.

Lilly looked around with a faint smile on her face, "Yeah, you're right. You know guys I think it's going to be okay."

There was a shuddering noise and then one by one, coming closer to them, the streetlights turned off and then suddenly the motor-inn was plunged into darkness.

D


	10. Starved for Help: Chapter One

It was a peaceful day, the only noise was a crow cawing from one of the trees. No one was sure exactly what the date was but they knew it was nearing autumn from the leaves in the trees turning. Alyssa sneaked up behind the walker, that was gnawing on the carcass of something small and raised the axe above her head. One smooth swing and the walker fell lifeless to the ground. She was used to using the axe now.

Kicking it off the axe, she stood over it and wiped the axe on the grass to get rid of the blood. Mark walked up behind her holding his rifle, "Dammnit, what'd they get this time?" he asked.

"Looks like it got a rabbit, though god knows how."

Mark sighed and shook his head, "Well, that's another meal lost." They both continued to walk through the woods, keeping an eye out for food or walkers, "I still can't believe we went through all that commissary food in 3 months. It seemed so much at the time."

"It would have lasted you more if you hadn't of opened the door to us" Alyssa said jokingly.

Mark chuckled "Yeah, except then I'd probably be food by now. Trust me," he smiled at her and put an arm around her waist "I have no regrets."

Alyssa lay her head onto his shoulder, it was nice to be able to do this without fearing any of the others would see. "I'm so glad you came and joined our group," she winked at him "for obvious reasons."

"Just wish we could find something out here, a deer or hell even a rabbit."

Alyssa sighed "A rabbit's hardly a meal but ... I'd take it, we're all pretty hungry."

"No kidding," Mark said "when I accidentally grabbed for Carley's rations the other night, I thought she was gonna take off my hand!"

Alyssa snorted "Just remember we're all on edge, especially with the arguing that's going on."

"You're right ... I wish I knew for sure how much food we have left" he said.

Alyssa made a face as they kept walking "You'll have to ask Lilly, she's the one handling the rations."

"Or mishandling it if you ask Kenny."

"Kenny's just worried about Duck starving, Lee gets worried about Clementine, so do I."

"I worry about you too," Mark said softly, "you think Kenny and Lee are having any more luck than we are out here?"

"I hope so, I'd like to eat something today" Alyssa sighed.

"Yeah, between the lack of food and Kenny and Lilly fighting all the time, things are getting pretty tense back at the Motor-Inn" Mark sounded tired "you know Kenny's been talking about taking off if he can get that RV running."

Alyssa knew it was true; Kenny had told her if he did take off, she, Clem and Lee would definetly have a space waiting for them on the RV, the only thing that worried her was if Mark could come too.

It was an instant attraction for her when they first met, but she wasn't expecting some big love affair during the zombie apocalypse so she never acted upon it. Whenever they would work together she would feel chemistry between them and it was confirmed that Mark felt the same when he risked his life on a run to Macon to get her a silver necklace with a feather on it for her birthday a month back and returned the kiss she gave him to say thank you.

"Kenny won't abandon us," Alyssa said trying to convince herself of it as well "he's a good man."

"I guess we'll see," Mark shrugged "can't blame him for wanting to go though - did you hear Larry going off on him last night? What's the old guy's deal anyway? Seems like he has a problem with Lee in paticular."

"Larry's just .. looking out for his daughter," Alyssa lied, not wanting to go into the reasons why Larry distrusted Lee so much.

Mark shook his head "Hey, I know Lilly. She can take care of herself. He needs to take that energy and put it towards finding us some more food and I know Lilly thinks he's getting weaker but the guy's all muscle!"

"He's a walking piledriver!" Alyssa agreed.

Mark snorted "I know I wouldn't want to be stuck in a room with him and didn't he punch Lee in the face one time?"

Alyssa nodded "Knocked him flat."

A crow flew down onto the lower branches of a tree and Mark dropped his hand from Alyssa's waist and crouched down behind a fallen tree with his rifle aimed at the bird. She crouched beside him and frowned "Mark, don't! Gunshot will bring walkers. One birds not worth it."

He lowered the rifle looking a little embarresed "Yeah .. I know. I'm just really frickin' hungry."

Alyssa took his hand in hers and squeezed it gently "We all are."

Mark looked at her "So dare I ask, is today the day?"

Alyssa sighed and dropped his hand, "Mark, please. Not this again."

"Look, I'm sick of sneaking about as if we're doing something wrong, I think we should tell the others that we're together" he said angryily, "I know theres an age difference but if we don't care, they shouldn't either."

"You want to tell Kenny and Lee, the most over protective people in our group, that you and I are in a relationship?" Alyssa asked raising an eyebrow "because that is a guarenteed way to getting your ass kicked."

"I don't care, if it means I get to sit next to you at night, hell even hold your hand in front of people then it's worth it. In this world, you're lucky to live another day, and I want to live the rest of mine with you 'Lyssa" he rolled his eyes "and yes I'm aware of how corny that sounds when I say it out loud."

Alyssa giggled and looked down at the ground; he had a point. "You're right, when we get back, we'll tell them" she smiled at him "and I'll make sure your ass doesn't get kicked."

"Thank you, that would be prefferable" Mark grinned back and kissed her gently on the lips.

They sprang apart as soon as they heard the scream that pierced through the woods and the crow flew off the branch quickly, cawing loudly as it went. "Shit! Was that the others?" Mark said jumping up.

"I don't know!" Alyssa said worriedly "come on!"

They both ran through the woods towards the source of the noise and saw two boys in a similar uniform trying to help an older man who was on the ground; Alyssa was a little relieved that it wasn't Kenny or Lee.

One of the boys tightened a belt around the mans legs and Alyssa's stomach lurched as she saw his mangled leg trapped in a bear trap. "Holy shit!" she said as Mark caught up to her.

The dark haired boy heard her and stood up looking scared, "Oh shit! No. No ... please don't kill us! We just want to help our teacher! We'll leave I swear."

"Alyssa! Mark!" Kenny and Lee came running towards them.

"You guys ok?" Lee asked worried.

Alyssa nodded quickly "We heard screams and came to check it out-"

"AHH! Get it off! Get it off!" the boy's teacher winced and looked severely in pain.

"Travis, mabye they can help!" the fairer haired boy said desperately.

The other one shook his head feverishly "These might be the same guys that raided our camp and ... we barely got away from that!"

"Why the fuck is there a bear trap out here!" Kenny asked angryily.

"I don't know man!" the fair haired one cried.

Lee shook his head, "It's okay, we're not gonna hurt you."

Travis still shook his head, "Don't listen to them Ben! Please just let us go! We're not a threat to you!" he glanced down at their teacher who was still groaning in pain.

Kenny lost his patience with Travis, "Kid, chill out! We'll try to help you but you've got to shut the fuck up!"

"Lee, this is fucked up. We've gotta help 'em!" Mark said urgently to Lee "think if it was you!"

Alyssa glanced around the treeline; all this noise and blood was bound to attract walkers. "Whatever you're gonna do, do it quickly, it's not safe out here" she glanced back at them.

"Please help us!" Ben pleaded with them while Travis shot him a glare.

"Ben, shut up! My dad was Special Forces, I know what I'm doing."

Ben ignored him and looked at Lee helplessly "Just see if you can get him out! After that you can leave us or whatever, I don't care! Please!" the boy looked that desperate Lee made his choice to help him.

"We gotta try and get him out of there!" he said to Mark and Kenny.

The teacher shot him a grateful look, "Oh god, thank you!"

Kenny rolled his eyes but nodded "Fine, but you gotta move quickly."

Mark crouched down and examined the trap while Alyssa, Lee and Kenny kept a look-out for walkers. Alyssa noticed some movement further away and knew they didn't have a lot of time before the scent of blood brought them over here, "Mark, whatever you're doing, do it faster, we got company."

"This trap's been altered there's no release latch!" Mark looked worried "I can't release his leg!"

All the colour drained from Travis's face as he glanced behind him, "Oh no.."

More walkers had appeared and were closing in on them, their groans could be heard louder and Alyssa gripped the axe tighter; there was a lot of them. Kenny came up beside her and cursed "Shit! Walkers! It's now or never Lee!" he said looking at him "do something or else we get the hell out of here!"

"Please!" the teacher begged "get me out of this!"

"Mark, get the boys back," Mark stood in front of them with his gun raised "Kenny, keep those walkers off of me." He bent down and looked over the trap, Mark had been right there was no release latch on it, whoever it was who put it here didn't want anyone escaping the trap.

Alyssa came over and bit her lip, "Can't we .. I dunno cut the tree down?" she asked quickly.

"That'd take too long."

"Or mabye the chain, can we cut through the chain?"

"He's lost so much blood already, please hurry up!" Ben begged them, staying behind Mark as he helped Kenny pick off walkers.

Lee took the axe off of Alyssa who picked up his rifle and began to cover him along with Mark and Kenny. Lee tried to cut through the chain tied to the tree, the axe hit it but did nothing. "Forget it," Mark said noticing what Lee was doing "we use chains like that at the air force base - you're not cutting through that!"

"Dammit!" Lee said, he was running out of ideas and time.

"There's gotta be another way!" the teacher wailed as more blood seeped from his leg, Lee looked at his leg and then it dawned on him; there was only one way they were getting him out of this trap.

He stood up with the axe in his hand and gave the teacher an apologetic look, "I'm gonna have to cut you out" he said.

"Oh god!" the teacher began to tremble at the sight of the axe.

Alyssa fired the rifle and realised that there was too many, "Lee! It has to be now!" she said urgently.

"No, no, no!" the teacher begged "try the trap again! Anything, please!"

"I'm sorry" Lee said and swung the axe down onto the mans leg, he screamed in pain as Lee continued to chop through his leg to try and release him.

"Fuck! We're just wasting ammo now, we gotta go!" Kenny said just as Lee finally managed to chop through the mans leg. The two students stood horrified at the bloody sight before them and even Alyssa felt a little sick at the sight.

"Oh god!" Travis said and began to vomit on the ground.

Mark came over and looked worried "Shit! Is he ... ?"

Lee shook his head, "He passed out."

Kenny ran over and shook his head, "If he's alive, grab him and let's go!"

Mark pulled the unconcious teacher onto his shoulders and carried him after Kenny, Alyssa glanced back at the walkers coming towards them and shot Lee a worried look "C'mon we gotta go!" she shouted running after Kenny and Mark.

Lee waited for Ben to catch up and looked for Travis when he seen a walker right behind him as he wiped the sick from his lips, "BEHIND YOU!" he shouted the warning but it was too late. Travis turned around and fell back from the shock of seeing the walker, instead of scrabbling away he froze and screamed when they fell upon him and began to tear at his flesh.

"TRAVIS!" Ben shouted, but Lee held him back.

"Come on, come on! We gotta move!"

"NOOOO!"


	11. Starved for Help: Chapter Two

It was deathly quiet like it always was at the Motor-Inn, Lilly sat on a deckchair on top of the RV while the rest of them found something to do. Carley was resting on the couch as she had done the night shift and Larry resumed to fortifying the wall that they had built around the inn to help stop walkers from climbing over. Katjaa sat on the ground watching her son draw on a bit of cardboard with the chalks they had found, usually Clementine would have loved to draw but she was too worried about Lee and Alyssa to sit about.

She stood waiting by the gate like she usually did and kicked the football Mark had brought from the airbase against some barrels, almost venting her anger out on it every second Lee and Alyssa were gone.

Clementine just wished she was older so she could do more to help, like Alyssa, she was always stuck with Duck and Katjaa drawing or playing games or even pretending they were in school and Katjaa was their teacher but it didn't stay fun after five minutes of Duck complaining he was hungry.

A sharp whistle sounded and Clementine stopped kicking the ball and immediantly took cover as the rest of them did, knowing what the whistle meant. She glanced up and saw Lilly standing up with her rifle aimed into the woods and hoped that no more walkers were coming to get them.

"Get the gates opened! We've got wounded!"

Clementine felt a surge of worry run through her; who was wounded?

Katjaa and Carley ran up to open the gates, "Come on, come on!" she heard Kenny say impatiently as the gates slowly opened. Clementine noticed the man on Marks back and a strange boy following Lee.

"What happened?" Katjaa asked her eyes wide in shock.

Larry stomped forward and gave Lee and Kenny a glare "Who the hell is this?" he shouted.

"What's going on?" Carley asked Lee as he walked through the gate.

"I don't have time to explain," Lee said quickly waiting till Alyssa and the boy were through before pulling the gate shut.

Clementine pushed forward and gave him a worried look "Lee, are you ok?" she asked.

Lee just nodded quickly and Alyssa came over and gave her a reassuring smile, "Don't worry kiddo, none of us were hurt."

Katjaa was standing by the open trunk and waved Mark over, "Get him into the truck; I'll see what I can do" she said.

"Kat, can you fix him?" Kenny asked walking over and helping Mark lower the man onto the truck.

Katjaa gave him a bewildered look "Jesus, Ken .. I ... I-"

"Lee!" Lilly shouted over them and everyone fell silent at hearing the anger in her words, "what the hell? You can't just be bringing new people here! What are you thinking!"

Kenny shot her an annoyed look "Hey do you wanna calm down for a fuckin' minute-"

"Watch your mouth!" Larry growled.

"NO! I don't!" Lilly snarled at Kenny, "I want to know why Lee thought bringing in more mouths to feed was a good idea!"

"Jesus Christ!" Mark muttered shaking his head at Lilly.

Lee seemed to agree with Mark as he glared back at Lilly "I thought we could have saved his life, I'm the one who took his leg. That makes me responsible!"

"Well that was a stupid thing to do!" Larry said loudly.

Lilly shook her head "We are NOT responsible for every struggling survivor we come across! We have to focus on OUR group! Right here, right now!"

Carley stepped in and tried to diffuse the tension building up "Well, hang on! We haven't even talked to these people yet, mabye they can be helpful?"

"Yeah like we were when we met you at the drugstore and saved your dad's life!" Alyssa snapped at Lilly, "or had that slipped your mind?"

She took a step towards Alyssa but Mark intervened. "Come on Lilly, these are people! People trying to survive just like us, we've gotta stick together to survive!"

"The only reason you're here is because you had food, enough for all of us!" Lilly said to Mark, her lip curling "but that food is almost gone, we've got mabye a week's worth left and I don't suppose you guys are carrying any groceries, are you?" she asked sarcastically putting a hand on her hip.

Mark shook his head angryily and Ben looked around looking slightly scared "Ehm, no" he said not looking at Lilly directly.

"Fine. You guys fight it out then," Mark said irritably "welcome to the family, kid" he added sarcastically before heading to his room. Clementine watched Alyssa sneak away and follow Mark as the rest of the adults continued to argue amongst themselves.

She walked over and tugged on the boy's arm "Come over here and see what I drew" she said quietly.

He jumped a little "What? No ... I ..."

Clementine took his hand and led him away over to where she and Duck drew, "Just come on, okay?" she said calmly.

* * *

Making sure no one saw her, Alyssa slipped into Mark's room and shut the door. He was lying on his bed and staring moodily up at the ceiling, he noticed her and sat up. "Well that went well," he said bitterly as she walked over and sat next to him.

"Do you think Kat will be able to fix his leg up?" Alyssa asked worriedly.

"I doubt it, we have hardly any medical equipment let alone medicine," he ran a hand through his black hair "I just couldn't leave without trying."

Alyssa slipped her hand through his arm and rested her head on his shoulder "It's in your nature to help someone in need Mark, it's not a bad thing to have."

"I'm sick of the arguing" he said shaking his head "everyday it's the same with Kenny and Lilly going at it and us all stuck in the middle."

"I'm sick of it too," she said "but right now we need to put up with it and survive" she leaned over and kissed his cheek "so come on, we have to go back out there."

Mark sighed "You're right, sitting in here isn't doing anyone any good. We'll go work on the wall and try to keep this place safe."

Alyssa smiled up at him "Sometimes I just wish we could run away, you know, like they do in all the romance novels."

Mark cupped her cheek and his eyes flickered over her face "One day I'll ride us out of here in the RV - if Kenny let's me drive it - and we'll try to find somewhere for us to be happy."

"Doubt that will ever come true, Kenny doesn't let anyone near that RV" Alyssa joked.

Mark kissed her and then stood up, pulling her up with him, "What would I do without you to keep me sane?" he said to her as he held the door open for her.

Alyssa grinned at him "Become as boring as a walker."

* * *

Outside, Lee noticed Alyssa and Mark emerge from his room and he narrowed his eyes at them. He wasn't stupid but right now he had other things to deal with and he focused on the arguement at hand.

"You know, you like to think you are the leader of this little group but we can make our own goddamn decisions! This isn't your own personal dictatorship!" Kenny snapped at Lilly.

"Oh come on!" Carley rolled her eyes "you're being dramatic!" Kenny and Lilly both gave her an annoyed look and she threw her hands up in despair, "everything always turns into a power struggle between you two! I'm not gonna be a part of that!" she walked away angryily over to Clementine and Ben.

Lilly looked back at Kenny "Hey! I didn't ask to lead this group!" she said in an hostile tone "everyone was happy with me distributing the food when there was enough to go around but now when it's running out, suddenly I'm a god-damn Nazi!"

Lee stepped in between them both, "Kenny's right, yeah you're in charge of the food and the schedules but you're NOT in charge of people's lives!."

"Really?" Lilly raised an eyebrow.

Kenny rolled his eyes "You weren't there. Lee made a choice. End of story!" he walked away carrying his rifle with Duck following him.

Lee tried to keep the peace "Look, once Katjaa patches that guy up, you can kick them out of here. Send 'em out on their own, I couldn't care less. But they at least deserve a fighting chance against the walkers" Lilly didn't look impressed by his answer "and for the record? Kenny wanted to leave those people behind!"

Lilly gave him one of her deadly glares "If Kenny would pull his head out of his ass for five seconds, he'd realize that I make these decisons to protect HIS family! We simply don't have enough food!"

"I don't see any of you stepping up to make the hard decisions!" Larry growled at Lee, "my girl's got more balls than all of you combined!"

Sensing his stress levels rising Lilly gave him a look "Dad, please. Why don't you go help Mark and Alyssa with the wall?" Larry gave Lee a warning look and headed towards where Alyssa and Mark were.

Lilly waited till he was gone before she continued "You know what? If you think I'm doing such a shitty job, then you do it!" she said walking away towards the bag with rations in it, Lee let out a sigh and followed her, everyone was watching and he felt anger at Lilly for making a scene.

She handed him a small selection of food "That's all the food we have for today. YOU decide who gets to eat!"

"But-"

"NO! I'm serious, pick up that food and start handing it out!" she said furiously "you see how it feels to not have enough food for everyone!"

Taking the food off of her, Lee glanced down at the pitiful rations for that day and wondered who he would pick. He only had five portions and he had ten hungry people; this was going to be difficult. Looking up, he saw everyone staring at him and he felt terrible about the situation.

He sighed and headed over; the kids were his main concern. "Hey Clem, how about a little food?" he asked putting on a happy voice and handing her the crackers and cheese.

"Oh yes please!" she said happily, she looked at Duck who was staring at her food "if you have any more food, Duck is hungry too" she added.

"Yeah, can I get some food too?" he asked.

"Of course, here's a bit of jerky, I know you like that" Lee smiled.

"Oh thanks!" Duck said accepting it and smiling at Lee, "oh man, I'm so hungry!"

Lee stood up and let the kids eat their food and glanced at Carley, he knew she hadn't eaten in a while but she shook her head. "I'm fine for now Lee," she said "theres people who've went longer than me and deserve it more."

Lee sighed "I hate leaving you hungry" he said.

"I know you're looking out for me, just don't forget me next time" she looked up at him and winked.

They shared a smile and he went and sat next to Kenny on the couch, sighing he leaned back and rubbed his forehead "Man, this is hard."

Kenny nodded, "Rather you then me buddy, but thank you for feeding Duck. I owe you one."

Lee thought for a moment, he had three pieces of food left and he knew Kenny would need his strength since they were the ones who went outside the motor-inn plus Kenny was his friend and he cared about him. "Here Kenny, you need something" Lee offered him the other crackers and cheese "I know you gave Katjaa and Duck your rations the other day. Eat something."

"You sure? You got something for Alyssa?" Kenny asked glancing over at her "she's been giving her rations away too, god knows the last time she ate."

"I'm saving the last bits for her and Mark, they've not eaten in a long time" Lee said "just take it man, can't have you fainting on me."

Kenny gave him a smile and took the food "I am starving, thanks Lee."

"No problem Kenny"

"Still, I guess some people aren't gonna be too happy they didn't get to eat today," Kenny said "paticuarly, you know who."

Lee sighed "Just promise you've got my back if he comes after me with that rock."

Kenny laughed "You got it 'bud."

Alyssa glanced over at the kids and was glad to see them eating something, even if it was just a small portion. Turning back to the wall, she held the plank in place while Larry hammered the nail in with the rock he had.

"Will you hold the damn board steady!" Larry suddenly snapped at Mark.

"I'm trying, I didn't realize I was getting this weak already" Mark said quietly, and Alyssa seen how he was shaking.

"What do you want? A handout? I've got 60 cents in my pocket, if you shut up and quit being such a pansy."

"Larry, get off his back, not all of us get to eat all the time" she rolled her eyes.

Larry shot her an irritated look before walking off, "I'm gonna get more damn nails, mabye you should brush up on your manners!" he snapped.

"He is a fuckin' pain in the ass," Alyssa said dropping the board "where does he get off talking to people like that?"

"Well, we've just witnessed how his daughter thinks she's Queen of the Motor-Inn, that probably explains it" Mark's eyes met hers "so, fancy doing the run into Macon tomorrow?"

"Just you and me?" Alyssa asked smiling, it was the only time they got complete alone time.

"Yeah," he winced and rubbed his side and Alyssa grew worried "we'll tell them tonight then? Since everyone's all uppity?"

"Mabye tomorrow, then we'll go into town and let them cool off" Alyssa said, she saw Lee coming over and whispered "act natural."

"Hey Lee, what's up?" Mark smiled.

Lee looked between them and fought the urge to roll his eyes, it was obvious they were up to something but he'd wait until they decided to come clean about whatever it was going on between them. At the end of the day Alyssa was eighteen and he wasn't her father.

"You two need to eat," he said holding out the rations in each hand, "Lilly put me in charge for today and I know you two haven't eaten in a while."

Alyssa accepted the food and gratefully smiled at him "Thanks Lee, was starting to feel dizzy there."

Lee noticed Mark's look of concern towards her and smiled, he wasn't the only one who was protective, "You too Mark, here, eat something" he handed him the piece of apple.

"Wow, thanks a lot" Mark said taking it from him and smiling "that's awesome."

They ate their rations quickly as Larry was walking their way, he gave Lee a glare as he walked by and began to hammer the nails into the piece of board. "Need any help with the wall?" Lee asked.

"Nope."

Alyssa rolled her eyes at Larry's quick answer, "Actually, we could use your axe, you mind if we take it?" Mark asked turning back to him.

"Yeah, give us that thing for a bit" Larry chipped in.

Lee looked between them both and handed the axe to Mark and gave him a smile. "Here Mark, this should help."

"Thanks."

"Hey, I'm the one doing all the work over here," Larry snapped at Lee "you didn't think to give me the axe?"

"Come on Larry, cut Lee some slack. He knows you're just out to protect Lilly. Alyssa told me," Mark said while Lee raised an eyebrow at Alyssa who just gave an embarresed smile "just like he's trying to protect Clementine and Alyssa."

"He ..! I ... I," Larry groaned knowing he had nothing to gripe about "I just need some food. Going this long without a proper meal will make anybody angry" he said turning back to his work.

Alyssa smiled at Lee as she and Larry held the board in place while Mark hammered it in with the axe, "Thank you" she mouthed to him and he nodded back. He walked back towards the R.V where Lilly looked down expectantly, he nodded at her and she sighed;

"Not such an easy job is it?" Lilly asked sadly from her seat on top of the RV.

Lee nodded and sighed "I don't envy you Lilly, I don't know how you have the strength to do this everyday."

"I don't have a choice" she replied in a numb tone.

"You're out! What happened to my food!" Larry said angryily coming up behind him.

"There's none left," Lee said quietly "I'm sorry." Kenny hearing the arguing came up and stood next to Lee.

"You keep treating people like this and your days in this group are numbered!" Larry warned Lee.

Kenny took a step towards Larry "You're one to talk, old man!" he growled at him.

"Yeah? Well I don't see you working on that wall!" Larry snapped walking back to the wall angryily muttering to himself.

"Thanks for that" Lee said to Kenny once Larry had left.

"Don't mention it, I don't mind arguing with that old basterd."

Lee smiled after him and Clementine came running up looking a little worried, "Hey Clementine, everything ok?"

"Not really" she said looking down.

"Where's your hat?" Lee asked noticing its absence; Clementine hardly took it off.

"I don't know," she replied sadly looking up at him hopefully "can you help me find it?"

"Sure, when did you lose it?"

The youngest of the group shrugged, "I had it a couple days ago."

Lee patted her head "I promise, if I find it, I'll let you know."

Clementine smiled up at him "Thank you."

"Okay, Clem. I've got to take care of some things. Why don't you go back to playing with Duck for a while" Lee said looking over to where Duck was happily drawing next to Ben and Carley.

"Ken, Lee!" Katjaa called from the truck "come here please!"

Hearing the urgency in her voice, both men walked over immediantly and seen Katjaa looking defeated. Kenny looked saddened "He didn't make it, did he?" he asked his wife.

"He lost .. too much blood" Katjaa said sadly.

"God dammit!" Kenny cursed "I'm getting sick of this shit!" he walked away and punched the side of the R.V in his anger.

Katjaa took a step in his direction "Ken? Come back there was nothing-"

"Let him go Katjaa" Lee said shaking his head.

"But ..." she trailed off and closed her eyes.

"He just needs time to cool off, it's been a rough morning for everyone" Lee said kindly to her.

Katjaa nodded "That man you brought ... I tried," she said glancing back at the dead teacher in the truck "but he was never going to survive."

Lee rubbed the back of his neck looking over the man who he had tried to save, blood still oozing out of his stump of a leg. "Well ... at least he's not our problem anymore."

"What about the other kid?" Katjaa asked glancing over to where Ben was sitting next to Clementine hugging his knees.

"I don-"


	12. Starved for Help: Chapter Three

Suddenly, hands were wrapped around Katjaa's face and pulled her towards a snarling face that was once a teacher but now was another walker, Katjaa screamed as she fought against the walker and Lee rushed forward. "Shit! Katjaa!" he began to wrestle with the walker trying to free Katjaa from it's grip.

He managed to push it back into the trailer and Katjaa fell to the ground and got away, he turned to where Mark, Alyssa and Larry were standing quickly and waved his arms "The axe! Hurry-!"

The walker grabbed him and tried to bite his face and he just managed to hold it off at arms length, pushing it to the side of the truck, he smashed it's head against the side and then the other. At this point Mark came skidding to a halt next to him holding the axe and raised it "Move! Move!" he shouted.

Lee pushed it back and Mark swung but the walker slid down too fast and the axe became stuck in the now smashed window, "Shit! It's stuck!" Mark shouted trying to pull it free, the walker turned it's ugly face to Lee and began to crawl towards him, Lee shuffled back as quickly as he could but fell at the last moment and the walker came on top of him.

He managed to catch it's face and stuck his thumbs as hard as he could into it's eyes, if felt disgusting but it was the only thing he could think to do. Carley appeared loading her gun and Lee glanced up "Shoot it!"

There was a gunshot and the walker grew limp in his arms, he pushed it off of himself and sat up breathing heavily. "You okay?" Carley asked getting down on one knee beside him and gently rubbing his shoulder.

"Yeah, thanks" he said smiling at her.

Alyssa stood beside Mark who looked sheepish as he held the axe, "You tried" she said comfortingly "I just froze on the spot while you took action."

"I missed, he could have died" Mark sighed and shook his head "I'm useless."

"Why'd you bring him here in the first place asshole!" Larry shouted as they all grouped around Lee and the dead walker.

"Dad, calm down!" Lilly said to him urgently.

"You're gonna get us ALL killed!" Larry spat at Lee pointing his finger in his face.

Kenny was comforting Katjaa who was trembling after the ordeal, he noticed Ben walking over with Clementine and shot him an angry look, "Why didn't you tell us he was bitten!" he snarled at him, dropping his hands from Katjaa.

"What?" Ben asked startled.

"He was bitten! And you didn't say a goddamn word!"

"But he wasn't bitten, I swear!"

Kenny raised his eyebrows sarcastically, "Well, you're 'not-bitten friend here came back to kill my wife!" he said aggressively.

"What!" Ben sounded shocked and then he seemed to deflate "wait, y'all don't know?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Kenny asked still angry.

Ben looked round them all sadly "It's not the bite that does it," he said "you come back no matter how you die. If you don't destroy the brain, thats what just happens. It's gonna happen to all of us."

"God help us" Alyssa whispered shakingly, covering her face.

"We're all infected?" Lee asked Ben quietly "everyone?"

"I-I guess so. I don't know ... All I know is that I've seen people turn when I KNOW they were never bitten" Ben replied looking close to breaking point "when I first saw it happen, we were all hiding out in a gym and everybody though we were finally safe. But one of the girls, Jenny Pitcher I think I guess she couldn't take it. She took some pills. A lot of them" he folded his arms and looked distant as if he was reliving it "someone went in the girl's room the next morning and ... God ..."

The silence was broken by the sound of Carley's voice "Back off!" she demanded holding her gun out towards the street. They all turned towards what she'd seen and saw two men holding gas cans and putting their arms up in surrender.

"Whoah, lady!" one said raising his eyebrows "relax! Me and my brother, we ... we just want to know if y'all can help us out."

"I said back off!" Carley said her hands tightening on her gun and her eyes narrowing at her targets.

"Carley.." Lilly said in a warning tone from behind her.

Lee stepped up beside Carley and frowned at the strangers "Are you armed?" he asked.

"Yeah ... for protection!" the other one said quickly "dead could be anywhere!"

The first one who spoke took a step towards the motor-inn with his hands still up "But .. uh .. I think you've got the upper hand here" he said.

Carley glanced down at the cans in their hands "Why do you need gas?" she asked.

"Our place is protected with an electric fence, gas provides the electricity."

The other one nodded "Our generators run on gas" he explained "look, we own a dairy farm a few miles up the road. If y'all be willing to lower your guns, we can talk about some kind of trade?"

"How are ya'll doing on food?" the smaller one asked "we've got plenty at the dairy."

Lilly thought for a minute before tapping Lee's shoulder "Lee, why don't you and Mark go and check the place out, see if it's legit?" she said.

Carley put her gun away and turned to Lee, "I'm going with you, I got your back if anything seems fishy."

The tallest of the men gave them a look "So what are ya'll thinking?" he asked.

Lee nodded "You've got a deal," he said "we'll bring some gas to your dairy. In exchange, you give us some food to bring back. We'll see how it goes from there."

The same one who spoke nodded and gave Lee a smile "Sounds fair. A couple of gallons should power one of our generators for a while."

"So this dairy ... you guys really have food?" Mark asked as they walked along the wood path.

Andy nodded "Sure do. We've lost most of the cattle but we still have lots of milk, butter and cheese stocked up"

"And with the vegetables we grow, we've got plenty of food" Danny added. They continued to talk along the path with Ben following them and Carley and Lee bringing up the back.

"It's nice to get away from that motel for a while" Carley said looking around the woods surrounding them "this Lilly/Kenny thing is starting to get ridiculous" she gave Lee a quick glance "personally I'd be happier if you started to take charge more."

"You think they'd want me for a leader?" Lee asked surprised, it wasn't something he had given much thought.

"Sure, everybody looks up to you" Carley smiled at him.

Lee shook his head "Well, not everyone thinks I'm so trustworthy."

"Because of your past?" the smile slipped off her face as she gave him a serious look "does anyone else know?"

"Larry knows."

"Great," Carley rolled her eyes "that can't be easy."

"Alyssa knows ..." Lee added quietly "she was there when we were talking in the drugstore and asked me about it, and Clementine knows I did a bad thing and I'm not proud of it. I couldn't lie to them."

"What exactly DID happen with the senator?" Carley asked.

"... It was an accident. I mean, I pretty much knew about the affair ..." he trailed off and seemed to be thinking "sometimes I wonder if I should talk to the group about it..."

Carley frowned "You don't have to. Whatever happened before things went to hell doesn't matter anymore."

Lee gave her a weak smile "Not sure everyone would see it that way."

"Mabye you're right," Carley shrugged "listen, over the years I've reported on some pretty messed up shit. I've seen situations like yours a hundred times, it doesn't have to make you a bad man"

Lee met her eyes "I ... really appreciate that" he said softly.

"I mean thank God Lee showed up when he did!" Mark said from the front, "right Lee?"

"Yeah, why don't you tell us a little more about yourself Lee?" Andy said falling back to fall in step with him.

"Where you from?" Danny asked him.

"I grew up in Macon."

Andy looked happy at that, "Right in the heart of Georgia, that's what I like to hear!" he nodded "Y'all seem pretty settled in at that motor inn. Who's running things over there?"

Carley's words came back to him and Lee thought about it, "I am," he said finally "if you guys have any questions, you come to me."

"How many people ya got over there anyway?"

"Nine, including the kids" Lee answered honestly.

"You forgot Ben" Carley piped up from the back.

"Me?" he asked turning to look at her.

"That makes it ten" Carley said.

Andy nodded "Well, we'd love to get ya all out to the dairy. Like I said, we've got plenty of food, and quite frankly, we could always use an extra helping hand."

"In the summers I used to help out on a goat farm" Ben said looking to Andy and Danny.

Danny grinned at him "Yeah? That's great, everything helps."

"Mama's been running the dairy for as long as I can remember but now it's gettin-"

"YOU THINK YOU'RE GONNA CUT ME OUT OF THIS!"

Andy crouched low and flapped his hand at the others, "Shit! Get down!" they all did as they were told and snuck towards the source of the sound, they saw two men arguing holding guns, Lee sensed trouble and hoped they weren't spotted.

"No one is trying to cut you out of anything!" the other one snapped.

"You and Gary are always-"

"Fuckin' bandits" Danny muttered under his breath angryily.

Lee looked at him "Who?"

"Those look like the people who raided my camp" Ben whispered looking scared.

"-calm down, your paranoia is everyone off-"

"Who are they?" Lee asked again to the brothers.

"-fuck you!-"

"Shh" Andy whispered back "Fucking assholes is who they are."

Carley had her gun out and she looked around "There's only two of them" she pointed out quietly.

"Oh no, there's always more hiding" Danny shook his head, "trust us on that."

"-yeah and you know what? We ate it all! What are you gonna fucking do about it?" one bandit sneered to the other.

Andy glanced along at Lee "Don't worry, Danny and I have ya covered if something happens but let's just wait this out and hope they move on."

"FUCK YOU!" the other bandit said kicking the other in the stomach and raising his gun and firing into his 'friends' face. The other bandit fell dead and Ben gasped as the remaining bandit stood over the body and continued to shoot.

"FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU!" he kept saying inbetween shots and then kicked what was left of the body hard.

"Jesus" Carley said shocked at the sight.

He stopped firing his gun and walked away, "Asshole" he said over his shoulder to the corpse and disappeared into the forest.

Andy sighed and shook his head "World out here has gone to shit. Come on, let's get to the dairy where it's safe." He led them away from the scene and they continued on their way.

Back at the motor-inn, Alyssa was growing restless, she didn't like staying behind but Lee had asked her to keep Clementine safe and she couldn't say no, especially when the young girl had asked her to draw with her so desperately. Katjaa was still shaken after the ordeal and as Larry and Kenny removed the body, she had covered her face and started to breathe shallowly, Alyssa insisted she go rest and that she would look after the kids.

"Colouring is boring" Duck said sitting up and putting his chalk down, "it's all we get to do."

Clementine nodded "Can we do something else Alyssa?"

Alyssa nodded and forced a smile on her face to hide the worry of Mark, Lee and the others going off with complete strangers, "Sure, how about we..." she looked around for inspiration, "we make a fort in one of the rooms?"

"And then what?" Duck asked already bored.

Alyssa sighed, she had no idea what they would do next. Then an idea came to her, "Hey, how about a tattoo Duck? Have one just like your Dad?"

The small boys face lit up and he nodded eagerly "Can I get a dinosaur on my arm?" he asked pleadingly "with guns?"

"I'll see what I can do, Clem, I can give you a haircut?" she glanced her over, "it's getting a bit long."

"Then can I do yours?" Clementine asked "I won't cut too much this time."

"Sure, you can cut my hair and style it" Alyssa smiled "but first tidy up after your colouring and I'll get you in my room." She got up and headed over to her room and shut the door quietly, thinking about the conversation that she and Mark had before he left.

_"Do you have to go?" Alyssa had asked as they went behind the steps where no one could see them, "Carley and Ben are going with him as well."_

_Mark tucked a strand of hair behind her ear "Don't worry, I'll be fine."_

_"What if this place isn't what it seems?" Alyssa asked shaking her head "I don't think any of you should go at all."_

_"Then it's a good thing I'm going too," Mark chuckled "and anyway, if we do get a meal out of this then I want to be a part of that, help feed our group."_

_"Just come back okay?" Alyssa said rolling her eyes "and leave this sense of duty behind you."_

_Mark kissed her forehead "I'm part of the airforce" he winked "we never lose our sense of duty."_

She was torn out of her thoughts by the kids coming into her room with excited looks on their faces, "Come on then, lets get this tattoo done" she smiled.

They approached a beautiful large farmhouse on a hill and a red barn next to it, as Andy and Danny said; there was an electric fence surrounding the area and they could hear the faint buzz as the electricity surged through it.

"Here it is," Andy said walking through the gate "St. John's family dairy" he pointed to the fence and smiled at them "ya'll can see how we've kept this place so safe."

"The fence keeps them out?" Mark asked.

"You betcha," Andy chuckled "they fry like bugs in a zapper! We're pushing 4000 volts through that thing with generators and amps."

Carley looked lost "I'm gonna assume that's a lot" she said shaking her hear, Lee smiled at her.

They walked up towards the house and Lee seen there was nothing to stop someone from walking into the fence, "Ever have any accidents?" he asked frowning a little.

"Nah, we're careful" Danny said.

"It's safer here than out there!" Andy added.

Carley turned on the spot taking it all in, "This place looks untouched. You'd never know the rest of the world is in ruins."

"It's worth protecting, hence all the juice."

A slightly large woman came out from the house and walked down towards them carrying a basket and the smell of cooking hung in the air, making the group almost water at the mouth. "I thought I saw ya'll with company comin' down the drive!" she greeted them with a big smile.

"Guys, this is our mama" Andy said proudly to them.

"I'm Brenda St. John and welcome to the St. John Dairy" she said nodding to them all.

Andy indicted to Lee, "This here's Lee. He's from Macon" he said to his mother.

"A couple of our old farm hands were from Macon. They grow 'em good there" Brenda said.

"They've got a few more friends staying at the old motel" Danny added.

Brenda looked slightly worried and she glanced at Lee "Oh my goodness, that place is pretty vulnerable. Have you got someone with survival experience to lead your group?" she asked.

"I've got things under control over there" Lee said firmly.

Brenda still looked unsure, "Well, I hope you know what you're doing. That place isn't safe like it is here" but then she brightened up "now that y'all are here, we'll make sure you're safe and comfortable."

Lee smiled back at her and nodded "Thanks for having us. We brought some gasoline on good faith."

"We're all incredibly hungry" Carley said.

Brenda held up the basket she had in her hands "These are for y'all. Baked fresh this morning."

"Amazing!" Carley said happily looking at the fresh food in front of her, "thank you so much."

"Can't get stuff like that anymore, not without a cow for milk and butter, that's for sure" Danny said to them all.

"That's right, hopefully Maybelle will make it through this bout of whatever she's got and be with us for a good long while" Brenda sighed.

"Your cow is sick?" Lee asked "What's she-"

"We have a vet!" Mark interrupted him quickly "we could bring her here! We can help you folks out!"

"A vet?" Brenda looked ecstatic "Oh, my! Our prayers have been answered!"

Mark nodded "Mabye our whole group could come ... for the day?"

She thought it over and then smiled at Mark, "Well how about this? Ya'll go get your veterinary friend, and I prepare some dinner. A big feast for all you hungry souls" she looked round them all "it'll be nice to have some folks to help out around here again, Danny," she glanced at her youngest son "why don't you come help me out in the kitchen?"

Carley looked at Lee, "Why don't I head back with the food and round up everyone for the trip back here?"

"You might wanna take someone with you. Remember, those roads can be dangerous" Andy warned her.

"I can handle myself," Carley assured him.

Mark handed her his rifle,"Take this" he said "why don't you go ahead and take Ben along anyway?"

Carley accepted the weapon and gave Lee a serious look "Take care of yourself Lee. See ya in a while" she headed back down the road with Ben and the basket of food in her hand.

"Mark, Lee, why don't ya take a look around. Once ya get settled in, I could use some help securin' the perimeter" Andy suggested.

"Is there a problem?" Lee asked raising his eyebrow.

Andy shrugged "Sometimes, the dead get tangled up in the fence before they fry and end up knocking over a post It'd be a big help if you two could walk the perimeter. You can learn a lil' somethin' about our fence," he jabbed his thumb behind him "I'm gonna go top off the generators before they run dry. Come get me when you're ready."

"You betcha!" Mark called out to him, he turned to Lee happily "this place is incredible! It's got food! And that fence ... oh man that fence! If we play our cards right, this might turn out to be a place we can stay. So how do you want to play this?" he asked Lee.

Lee thought for a minute before answering "They are offering us food, we should do whatever we can to make these people like us" he answered.

"The way Brenda was talking, I get the feeling like she'd be happy to have us stay."

Lee nodded "All the more reason for us to NOT fuck this up. If Andy needs some help securing the perimeter, then that's what we do."

Mark nodded "I'll wait by the fence and you can go talk to him."

Lee was about to head over when something caught his eye; a broken down swing hung from a tree, swaying slightly in the wind. He couldn't help but want it to be fixed, imagining Clementine and Duck's faces if they saw a swing put a smile on his face.

"Too bad it's broken," he said turning to Andy who lifted his head from the generator, "I'll bet Clementine and Duck would have loved something like this to play on."

Andy snorted and nodded at him, "Kids used to like that old swing even more than the tour sometimes."

"Mind if I fix it?"

"Sure! That'd be great," Andy smiled "Momma sure does apprectiate you all helping out."

"Well, we appreciate her cooking us a meal" Lee said sighing "I don't know how long it's been since we had a proper meal."

"Oh don't worry," Andy said straightening up "it's gonna be a good one."


	13. Starved for Help: Chapter Four

As they walked along the fence in the picturesque field, Lee found it hard to believe the world had gone to shit as he walked in the sun with Mark, if it was possible, he would be happy to stay at the St. John Dairy and keep Clementine and Alyssa, as well as the whole group, safe. Especially the girls.

"Do you think we're doing enough to get the St. John's to like us?" Mark asked.

"Well, we don't want to seem over anxious," Lee replied "showing them we can handle this fence is gonna go a long way."

"I can't wait until everyone's out here ... well, everyone besides Larry" Mark added.

Lee raised an eyebrow "He wouldn't be such a pain in the ass if you weren't telling him that you and Alyssa were talking behind his back all the time."

Mark looked down embarresed "I'm sorry, alright?"

Lee nodded "We'll work it out somehow."

"Well, hopefully he'll calm down once he's out here."

Sitting atop a fried walker with an arrow in it's neck, a crow pecked away at the rotting skin and flew away with a loud 'caw' as they approached, "There's one," Mark said pointing at it, Lee gave it a cautious kick to make sure it wouldn't come back ... again and Mark raised an eyebrow at him, "Lee, it's dead."

"Watch my back and I'll push it off," Lee said glancing around, he noticed the arrow had went through the walker and into the post holding it into place. Pulling it out, he then used his axe to push the walker off the fence.

"Come on, I'm sure theres more."

Mark walked alongside him and looked excited "Once this fence is patched up, this place'll be a fortress. God, can you imagine not having to worry about the walkers anymore?"

"It's dangerous" Lee reminded him.

"True, but it's also dangerous to the walkers" Mark pointed out, "it would be safer for everyone here, especially the kids. Not having to constantly watch our backs for danger."

Lee looked thoughtful, "It'd be nice to relax for once, even for a little while."

"So, what's your take on the brothers? They seem to have this place tied down pretty well."

Lee had to admit, despite their friendliness, there was still something nagging at him that this was just too perfect for them. He couldn't help but feel the brothers were hiding something from him. "We've got enough people to take this place by force, if we have to" he said.

"Sheesh Lee, you sound like Kenny."

Whilst Mark pushed another walker off, Lee tried to do the same, but this one was still clutching the fence as if determined to hold on and he had to use the axe to chop off it's hands so it would fall. The smell was disgusting.

"Ya never do get used to the smell, do ya?" Mark said shaking his head.

Lee chuckled "Nope."

"Christ, I can't stop thinking about dinner," Mark said as they continued along the fence, his face grew serious "thanks for the rations earlier, it's not easy eating in front of the kids. But it's all that's keeping me on my feet right now."

Lee nodded "No problem, we'll go ask for more to eat after this is done."

"All right," Mark smiled "I can suck it up."

They walked along in silence and Lee was about to ask if Mark thought that the St. John's were hiding anything when he surprised him with a question of his own. "Hey, Lee. While we're out here can I talk to you about Alyssa?"

"What about her?"

Mark stopped and rubbed the back of his neck "Woah boy, okay, I've been thinking about what to say for months but now my minds gone blank," he met Lee's eyes "I've ... well, we've been-"

"I know you two are an item" Lee said calmly.

Mark's eyes widened and he looked alarmed "Are you gonna kick my ass? I know she's like a daughter to you."

Lee thought for a minute and then folded his arms, "You gonna protect her? Keep her safe?"

"Of course."

"You make her happy?"

"I'd like to think so."

Lee smiled "Then I have no problem, she's nineteen now and as much as I think of her as my family, I have no right to boss her around" he narrowed his eyes at Mark "break her heart or upset her in anyway, then you'll get an ass kicking."

"I think she'd be the first one to do that, and do a good job" Mark snorted but he nodded at Lee, "thanks Lee, I won't mess this up. She means too much to me."

"You genuinely like her?"

Mark looked over the fields and smiled "In a strange way, I'm kinda glad to be in this predicament, because I got to meet her. So yeah, I really like her."

"Well, you're on your own with Kenny," Lee said beginning to walk again "god knows what he'll say about it."

"Think I'll wait till he's eaten, put him in a better mood."

Lee smiled "Let's get this place safe for the group."

* * *

Alyssa was on watch when Carley and Ben appeared out of the forest and she felt a flutter of panic when she seen it was just them, "Kenny get the gates, Carley and Ben are back!" she called down to him and by the time she had climbed down from the R.V roof they were already in.

"Where's Lee and Mark?" she asked worriedly.

"They stayed behind to help out" Carley said calmly.

Lilly walked up to her and raised an eyebrow "So do they have food?" she asked.

Carley held up the covered basket and Alyssa could almost feel the drool coming on as the smell of baking filled her nostrils. "Oh man, they gave you food?" Kenny asked after he had shut the gate again "these people are for real?".

"Yeah, and they're gonna give us a meal and in return we said Katjaa would have a look at their cow," Carley handed the basket to Lilly, "Ben and I have eaten a couple on the way over, so this is between the rest of you."

Lilly still looked unsure, "So we're all to go trooping through the forest and leave this place unmanned?" she shook her head "you two can stay and guard the motor-inn, we'll go to this place, Katjaa can look at their cow and we'll bring the meal back here. I don't want to linger over there with strangers."

Carley looked like she was gonna argue but she finally relented "Fine, Ben and I will watch the place, just make sure we get a good helping of food each."

The smell of food brought the rest over and Lilly handed out the food equally amongst them all except for Ben and Carley. Alyssa couldn't help but close her eyes and smile at the taste of the food. The last time she had good homebaking is when her Grandma was still alive and she would visit on weekends.

"Damn, if this meal tastes anything like this baking then I'm not leaving this dairy farm!" Larry exclaimed "we should head out now."

"Alright, everyone get ready to move out" Kenny said "how exactly do we find this place?"

"Just follow that path and turn left at the dead bandit," Carley shook her head at Kenny's raised eyebrow "don't ask, I don't wanna think about it."

"Are we going to eat dinner tonight?" Clementine asked Alyssa.

She smiled down at her "Sounds like it Clem, looks like Lee pulled through on getting us a meal out of these people."

"Lee and Mark," Clementine said "I like Mark, he's like Lee, always looking out for us."

"I like him too, now come on, quicker we get there, the quicker we can eat!"

* * *

Lee paused to push another burnt corpse from the fence when Mark waved him over "Come on, I think I see where they're getting in" he pointed at the part of the fence laying down with a walked on it "this one must've knocked it over trying to get through. He's tangled up in there pretty good" he glanced at Lee, "come on, help me get this thing back in place so we can get Mr. Crispy off of it."

"I think we'd get better leverage from the other side" Lee observed.

Mark jumped over and knelt down at the post, "Good idea."

They managed to push the posts up but just as the removed their hands there was a loud crackling noise and the lights on the post turned on as the electric fence came to life. Mark jumped back "Holy fuck! What just happened?!"

"The fences are on" Lee cursed.

Mark frowned "Why the hell would he turn the fence on! He know's we're out here-"

An arrow came out of nowhere and struck Mark in the shoulder, he stumbled forward with a cry and clenched his arm with his hand. Lee looked to the woods where he could now hear voices shouting;

"I told you what would happen you son of a bitch!"

"Head to the gate!" Lee urged Mark and they both made a run for it but more arrows were fired and embedded themselves just in front of them in the ground and in the fence.

Glancing around, Lee spotted an old run down tractor "Get down!" he cried out and they both took cover behind the tractor, another arrow just missing Mark's foot as he crouched down beside Lee.

"WE HAD AN AGREEMENT!" a voice shouted angryily from the woods "NOW YOU'RE FUCKED!"

"Who the fuck is that?" Mark asked, gritting his teeth through the pain.

"No idea!" Lee replied panicking a little.

Mark looked around hopelessly, "Fuck, now what?"

"With the fence on, that gate is our only way out!" Thinking fast, Lee noticed a chock in front of the tractor and an idea came to him; the tractor could move forward towards the gate and they could take cover behind it. Grabbing it, he then pulled the lever for the plough release and to his relief the tractor began to move towards the gate.

"I SEE 'EM!"

"YOU ASSHOLES!"

"Ahh, shit that hurts!" Mark groaned.

"Almost there, keep moving, we'll get through this!" Lee said to him quietly. The tractor kept moving but then suddenly stopped.

"What happened?" Mark asked worriedly.

Lee noticed the dead walker lying in front of the wheels and inwardly cursed "Shit. It's one of the dead we pushed down earlier, I'm gonna have to move it."

"Be careful!"

Grabbing the hands of the walker, Lee swung him out the way and ducked when an arrow hit off the top of the tractor and bounced off. They both swore when the tractor stopped again, "Another one?" Mark muttered angryily, "how many of those things did we push off?"

As Lee tried to swing the walker out of the way like the last one, it suddenly growled and tried to pull him down to it's face. Lee stomped hard on it's face in an attempt to make it let go but it still held on, he pulled harder against it and with one more stomp, it's upper body suddenly seperated from the bottom and it split in two. He threw it behind them and tried to stay behind the tractor as did Mark as more arrows came whooshing from the bandits in the wood. The walker began to drag itself after them, and Lee thought for a moment that they weren't going to make it but he glanced behind and saw one arrow embed itself in the walkers head and he breathed out in relief.

"BEHIND THE TRACTOR!"

As soon as they reached the gate, he kicked it open and they both made a run for it, "C'mon, let's get back!" he shouted to Mark who kept up with despite his injury.

"YOU LUCKY SONS OF BITCHES! GO AHEAD AND RUN! WE AIN'T GOIN' NOWHERE!"


	14. Starved for Help: Chapter Five

Lee had never been so happy to see a farmhouse in all his life, he pushed the gate open and glanced at Mark, who was bleeding heavily from his arm and looked pale as a ghost. Andy seen them running and came over looking worried.

"Lee, what's wrong?"

He caught his breath before answering "The electric fence came on! Some people started attacking from the woods and we got trapped between them and the fence."

Danny came down from the house and saw Mark and his eyes widened "Holy shit! Are you okay?" he asked.

Andy looked stricken "I .. I heard Mark yelling and though y'all were giving me the all clear!" he ran a hand through his hair "man, I am real sorry."

"Oh my Lord!" Brenda rushed down and covered her mouth "What happened to you, sweetheart?"

"It was those basterds in the woods Mama" Andy said angryily.

Mark struggled to catch his breath and looked ready for collapsing "Yeah .. I'll be alright once it's out," he grimaced "but goddamn it hurts!"

"Hey y'all!"

Lee glanced and seen the rest of the group walk through the fence, Alyssa shot him a smile but it slipped off her face when she seen Mark leaning over with an arrow in his shoulder."Mark, oh my god, what happened?" Katjaa said coming over, Lee watched sadly as Alyssa slipped her hand into Mark's and squeezed it gently.

"He got shot with an arrow" Lee explained quickly as everyone came over.

Alyssa looked worried "Christ, are you gonna be okay?"

"Yeah .. I'm fine," he said to her weakly "I should just ... just ... pull it out .."

Brenda shook her head and walked over "Oh no, honey, cmon. Brenda's got you. C'mon inside now, we'll have you all sorted out."

Mark followed her, still holding Alyssa's hand who stayed by his side, Katjaa also followed them into the house and Brenda glanced at her smiling, "Well, you must be the veterinarian-"

Larry stormed up to Lee and looked angry "What kind of shit is this?"

Ignoring him, Lee turned to the others "We ran into some people on the way up here ... bandits I guess. I think it was them that attacked us."

"They gave us a lot of problems in the beginning," Andy spoke up "killed a bunch of our farmhands. We were able to get 'em to stop by making a deal."

Kenny shot him a glare "You KNEW about these people?" he asked angryily.

Danny looked glum "Food for protection. Not like we had much of a choice, but they did stop hasslin' us."

Larry shook his head "Goddammit! Carley said this place was locked down tight!"

"It was just a fluke thing," Lee said folding his arms "we can't stop assuming there aren't bad people out there."

"What the hell do you mean a fluke?" Lilly snapped.

"It could have happened anywhere," Lee met her eyes "it could have happened to us in the motor-inn."

Andy sensed the tension and took a step forward "Listen, we may have had an agreement with those people but we will NOT stand for this shit!"

"Ain't no way we're gonna let those sons o' bitches get away with this" Danny nodded.

"You know where these assholes are?" Kenny asked.

"They're hard to pin down but I think I know where at least ONE of their camps are" Danny replied, he glanced at Lee, "when you're ready to go scope out that bandit camp, come find us."

Lilly waited till they were out of earshot before she sighed out loud "Bandits? Are you serious? This place isn't safe, we can't stay here."

"Not safe?" Kenny frowned at her "this place is a hell of a lot safer than that motor inn! I think all of us and our guns can handle a couple of punks with bows and arrows!" Lilly glared at him but Kenny turned to Lee who was deep in thought "what we need to do is find a way to get our whole group out here to stay. Take this place over if we have to."

Larry held up a hand "Cool your jets there Rambo. These are nice people. Let's not do anything to get us thrown out before we eat."

Making a decision, Lee looked around his group "I'm gonna head out and help Dan deal with these bandits. You guys should try to make friends with Andy and Brenda while I'm gone."

"Well that's easy," Larry said standing up straight and glancing at the farmhouse "I've got charm coming outta my ass."

Lilly rolled her eyes at her father's comment "Yeah, that's real charming Dad."

"Where's Ben and Carley?" Lee asked noticing their absence.

"Since Carley and Ben ate some of the food on the way back to get us, they volunteered to stay behind and watch the motor-inn untill we get back" Lilly frowned a little when she said this and Lee guessed there was no volunteering more like they accepted orders from Lilly.

Andy came back and pointed over to the swing that Lee fixed before going out and checking the fence, "Hey kids, look what Lee got working for ya."

"A swing!" Clementine said excitedly "I love swings! Just like at my treehouse! Come on Duck!"

Looking excited they ran past the adults and headed straight for the swing, as she passed him, Clementine stopped and beamed up at Lee, "Thanks Lee, you're the best!" she said happily.

* * *

In the house, Brenda directed them up the stairs and into a bedroom, Mark let out a hiss of pain as they sat him on the bed. Alyssa at once sat beside him and kept a hold of his hand tight in hers.

"Oh, young love, ain't it sweet?" Brenda smiled "especially in this world."

Alyssa ignored her and anxiously looked at Mark, "How you feeling?" she couldn't help but stare at the arrow in his shoulder.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me" he tried to smile but he still looked in pain.

"Well, we're gonna have to get that arrow out of you darling," Brenda walked to the side and looked at his shoulder "well, you're lucky, it's went clean through so we just need to cut the arrow head off and pull the shaft through."

"That doesn't sound like it's gonna hurt at all" Mark said a little sarcastically.

Brenda just shook her head "It's gonna hurt a lot, I'm not sure your little girlfriend should be here to witness this."

"I'm not going anywhere" Alyssa said firmly.

"Alright then, Katjaa is it? I'm gonna need you to help me carry the things I need through."

They left the room and Alyssa sighed "You go out on your own and get shot with an arrow" she said weakly, fighting back the tears "I wish you stayed at the motor inn with me."

"Hey, I'm gonna be okay" Mark pulled her into a hug and kissed her hair "they'll take care of me and I'll be back to being the hero in no time."

"No more hero business" Alyssa said against his neck "I can't lose you."

"Well, I just got Lee's blessing to be with you," Mark smiled at her as she looked up surprised "so, I'm not gonna lose you anytime soon."

"You told him?"

"He already knew and he's fine with it," Mark grinned "but he says we're on our own when it comes to Kenny."

Alyssa smiled back and kissed him gently on the lips "This beats having a dinner anyday" she said softly.

"You must really like me," he was still smiling but his tone was serious.

Alyssa nodded and smiled "I really do."

Brenda and Katjaa came back into the room carrying supplies, "You ready to get that arrow out darlin'?" she asked Mark.

He grimaced and sat up a bit straighter "Ready as I'll ever be."

"I'll be right here" Alyssa said as Katjaa and Brenda got to work on his shoulder "I'm not going anywhere."

"Makes two of us" Mark winked.

* * *

The woods were silent as Danny and Lee walked through them with their weapons drawn and after knowing who was out there, Lee was definetly on his guard.

"See anything?" Danny asked quietly.

Lee took another sweep of the forest and shook his head "Not yet."

They continued to head through the forest and Danny shook his head "I know it's around here, it's gotta be close."

Lee was about to take another step when he seen something lying on the ground, it was an empty can of food and he pushed it with the tip of the rifle and it rolled away. It was a Save-Lot's can. He straightened up and followed the small path around the bend and waved Danny over. "Here!" he muttered.

Just up ahead was tents and a small fire, it certainly was a camp and Lee just hoped it wasn't full of bandits. "Oh shit you found it" Danny said walking up to him.

Lee put a finger on each eye silently and pointed ahead, slowly, with their guns raised, they began to walk towards the seemingly empty camp. Sneaking up Lee, kept his eyes open and took cover behind a tree while he scanned the campsite.

"You see anybody?" Danny asked in a low voice.

"Looks empty" he replied.

Walking out in front of him, Danny headed straight for the tent that was half zipped up. "Watch my back Lee," he said over his shoulder "I'm gonna check out the tent." Lee walked up behind and made sure no one was creeping up on them and held his breath while Danny walked up to the red tent. He put his gun out in front of him and quickly pulled the door open but he looked dissapointed and Lee guessed there was no one in there.

"Clear," Danny said shaking his head, he then looked around and frowned "this camp's too small. It can't be their main base."

"That's what I was thinking."

He nodded "Take a look around anyway, there's probably some shit around here they stole from us."

Lee walked over to the boxes from Save-Lots on a table and glanced inside, rootling around. Danny glanced over and raised an eyebrow "What's in the boxes?" he asked.

"They're all from Save-Lots" Lee answered.

"The first few days, they told folks to gather to the Save-Lots by the interstate, anything worth taking?"

Lee snorted "Not unless you need a bunch of empty cans."

"Heh, I'll pass" Danny said checking out the other boxes.

Lee shifted the Save-Lots box out of the way and spotted a box with a familiar logo on it; it was a box from the St. John's Dairy. "Boxes from the Dairy here" Lee said confused.

Danny hesitated before he answered and Lee couldn't help but get that feeling not all was what it seemed again, "Prob'ly the food we've been given' em. Fuckers crossed the line" he finally said.

Lee pushed the box to the side and spotted a small camcorder lying on the table, he picked it up with one hand and looked at it, he wondered what was on it.

"What'd you find?"

"A video camera" Lee replied, he pressed the on button but nothing happened.

Danny came over quickly and pointed to it "Lemme see that" he said.

"Batterys dead though."

"Oh good," Danny muttered then he walked to the other side of the table "what else they got over here? Let's see if we can find anything useful and then get a move on" he said investigating the boxes. Lee still held the video camera in his hand and pocketed it, he might find some batteries and get to find out what was on it, his curiousity growing especially after Danny's relief to the battery being dead.

"I see you handle that gun I lent ya pretty well. You a hunter?" Danny asked him.

Lee shook his head "No, but Lilly keeps us all on a regular training schedule."

Danny frowned "Lilly? I thought you were running things over there?"

"Yeah but, uh, she's got the combat training" Lee pointed out.

"I see."

Lee ignored the smirk and walked over to the tent, he opened it fully and knelt down at the opening. Inside were two sleeping bags, one obviously a childs and he sadly looked at the small rabbit toy that lay across the pillow. Beneath it was a picture of a mother and daughter, the daughter holding the rabbit. He rubbed his face "Aw man," he muttered "there's a kid mixed up in this?"

Spotting a lump in the other sleeping bag, he slowly pulled it down and frowned when he seen it was a hat ... then he froze; it was Clementine's hat.

"...the hell?"

"Don't you fucking move!"

He turned around still holding the hat and seen a deranged looking woman aiming a crossbow at him. "Shit!" Danny cursed and pointed the rifle at the stranger.

"PUT YOUR GUNS DOWN!" she shrieked, switching her aim to Danny while Lee stood outside the tent with his own gun raised at her. "I ain't going back. You tell 'em Jolene ain't goin' back!"

"Hey! We had a deal! No shooting as long as we gave you food!" Danny said angryily at her "what the fuck happened?"

"You had a deal with THEM!" Jolene tightened her hold on the crossbow "I ain't THEM!" she glanced at Danny and glared at him "oh I know you, I know what you are and I know what you do!"

Lee glanced at him frowning and Danny raised his eyebrows "You don't know me!"

"You steal my shit! You steal everything from me!" she snarled.

"We had a deal!" Danny repeated "you people broke it first!"

Lee decided to intervene "We're looking for the people who attacked the dairy, and shot my friend!"

"I don't know where they are," Jolene replied, dragging her gaze away from Danny "but they ain't here! So get the fuck outta my camp!"

"She' lyin' Lee" Danny said quietly.

Jolene ignored Danny's comment and raised the crossbow to her eye level, "Now, mabye you didn't hear me last time when I asked you sweet .. put your damn guns down! You think I won't kill you?" she smiled manically at Lee "I'm gonna take this here crossbow and put a nice sharp arrow right through your eyeball. And into your brain..." she paused and shot them both an ugly glare "you're not men ... you're monsters. All men are monsters. Take what they want and then destroy it all! Take a can of beans! Take a little girl, it's all the fuckin' same to you!"

Lee remembered Clementine's hat and grew angry "Where did you get this hat?" he demanded.

"The little girl."

"You STOLE it from her!" Lee snapped.

"So what if I did? You stole her from ME!"

Lee frowned wondering what she meant and shared a confused look with Danny, "What the hell are you talkin' about?" he asked angryily.

Jolene didn't answer and instead went on a rant "You know what? I changed my mind ... I'm putting this arrow right through your BALLS! Yeah! Right through. String 'em up in that tree! Then I'm going down to that farm and shoot every goddamn person I see!"

Lee was getting tired of this mad woman's ravings "Look, there's two of us and one of you. No matter what happens, one of us is gonna kill you."

Jolene smiled madly at Lee "Like you could kill me. They couldn't kill me. They tried. Killin' everywhere. Take all the dead folks you want, we'll make more!" she laughed and then took a step towards Lee "go on, tell him boy!" she glanced at Danny quickly, laughing again "tell him what you go in mind for-"

Danny's gun fired and Jolene stopped in mid-rant as she fell to the ground with a bullet hole in her forehead, blood came pouring out of her head wound and the forest floor was slowly stained red. Lee stood shocked and glanced at Danny who shook his head, "God dammit!" he said walking towards her body.

"You straight up murdered that woman!" Lee exclaimed.

"Hardly," Danny turned and frowned at Lee "she had a crossbow pointed at my forehead" Lee sighed and shook his head, while Danny knelt down and looked at Jolene's face "it's a clean shot though .. right through the forehead. That's good shootin' right there. Still, what a waste" he added after seeing Lee's face.

"So that's it?" Lee asked "we going back?"

Danny shrugged "If they ain't here. I don't know where they are. And it ain't a good idea to go tromping through the woods looking for them. So yeah, we head back" he straightened up grabbing Jolene's crossbow as he did "once they see this ... they'll get the message."


	15. Starved for Help: Chapter Six

It was nearly dark when they returned to the farm, Lee followed Danny still giving him looks after what had just happened with Jolene at the campsite, if he didn't have any suspicions about the brothers then he definetly had them now.

"Man, that was a hell of a ride huh?" Danny said turning to him once they passed through the gate as if they had just been out hunting like two best friends.

"Jesus Danny!" Lee sighed, throwing the rifle at him, he caught it deftly in one hand.

Danny looked surprised at him "What? You ain't gettin' soft on them, are ya? Not after what they did to your friend!"

Before Lee could answer, Brenda spoke up from the porch "You're back! What happened?" she asked anxiously.

"Handled it Mama" Danny said calmly and walked away. Lee shook his head and walked up to where Brenda was now sitting, she looked a little upset.

"This isn't what Terry would've wanted ..." she said sadly.

"Who's Terry?" Lee asked her.

"My husband," Brenda looked down to her wedding band on her finger, "miss him everyday-"

"-well screw it up for everyone why don't you!" Lilly's voice came out of the silence sounding very angry.

"Oh calm down princess, I'll do it myself!" Kenny snapped back and Lee sighed, the arguing had begun again. Kenny walked away from Lilly into the barn and she just shook her head and leaned against the wall of the gazebo looking tired.

"What's going on with them?" Lee asked out loud.

Brenda also at watching the exchange, "Dunno. Squabblin' look like. A lotta tension with ya'll huh?"

Lee nodded "Yeah, you could say that. They don't exactly see eye to eye on how we should be doing things."

"Well, it's probably just the hunger talkin'" Brenda smiled comfortingly "and Lee? Don't worry your head about them bandits. I'm sorry you've seen more violence than I'da thought in your short time but y'all are sade here. Don't worry."

"Pardon me Brenda, but how's Mark doing in there?" Lee asked worriedly.

Brenda smiled "Best patient I ever had. My boys get so much as a scratch and start hollerin'," she gave a quiet laugh "he could definitely teach them a thing or two about being tough."

With his suspicion levels already quite high, he took a step towards the house "I'd still like to check on him."

Brenda gave him a sympathetic look "You're gonna have to trust me on this one, Lee. I've helped stitch my share of wounds .. I know what I'm talking about."

Lee let it go, but he couldn't get rid of the niggling worry something was wrong. "Think I'll go have a look around."

"Don't wander too far," Brenda smiled again, this one a little more different "dinner will be ready before you know it. And thank your friend Katjaa again for me. She and the kids are in the barn with the cow, that young lady as well. Finally managed to seperate her and Mark."

Lee glanced over to the barn and saw Clementine stand at the entrance, she seen that he was okay and gave him a wave before shutting the door. He walked towards the barn but noticed Lilly standing staring angryily into space and decided to see what was going on with her and Kenny.

He walked up the steps to the gazebo and nodded at Larry who just curled his lip in response. Lilly looked up and gave him a tired smile, "Hey, so what happened at the camp? Did you find anymore of those guys who hurt Mark?"

Lee shook his head "We found a woman in the woods. She was talking all crazy an had a crossbow ... so Danny killed her."

"Holy shit!" Lilly looked shocked "was she one of those bandits?"

Lee frowned "I don't know ... I think she was trying to tell me something but then he just went off."

"I don't like this Lee," Lilly said looking slightly worried, "I still say we should go back to the Motor-Inn where we at least know what to expect."

Lee didn't want to raise any alarm with his own suspicions until he had proof so he changed the subject "What were you and Kenny arguing about when I came back from the camp?"

She rolled her eyes "He's losing it Lee. He comes over and starts talking about searching the barn and that these people are hiding something-"

"But you told him to mind his own goddamn business right?" Larry interrupted "we are guests here and we don't need to be overstaying our welcome more than we already are."

Lilly ignored her fathers statement "The way I see it, we need to just skip the dinner and get our food to go. But I'm starting to think your friend over there has another agenda" she added bitterly.

Lee nodded "I'm gonna go check things out."

"Just don't get too nosy" Lilly said warningly "these kinds of people are usually pretty protective of their privacy."

"Yeah, and we don't need you poking your nose where it don't belong and getting us thrown out on our asses" Larry snapped.

* * *

Inside the barn, Alyssa stood leaning against the stall while looking down at the cow, she couldn't help but smile at Clementine and Duck's looks of wonder at the gentle beast lying down. Katjaa had found out that Maybelle wasn't ill, instead she was pregnant. Andy sat on the stool next to them but he didn't seem to be focusing on what Katjaa was saying about caring for the young calf. Alyssa couldn't help it but she felt like something was very wrong.

She just wished she could be with Mark. Brenda had chased her from the room after removing the arrow and giving him painkillers to help him sleep.

_"Now c'mon darlin'" she said "this ain't no time for being Florence Nightingale, the man needs his rest and you need to relax."_

_"Come help me with the children in the barn," Katjaa said putting an arm around her shoulder "we'll come check on Mark after we've eaten."_

_Brenda made a face but she quickly smoothed it over with a smile but Alyssa saw it "Of course ya can" she said kindly._

The barn door opened and she saw Lee come in, he glanced down at Clementine and Duck and smiled at their expressions. The cow sat up and shook her head and Clementine hesitated beside it, clearly wanting to pet it.

"It's okay Clementine, you can pet her" Katjaa smiled.

Clementine looked excited as she glanced at Lee who smiled and nodded "It's okay, go ahead."

She took a couple of steps towards the cow and slowly put her hand out, petting it gently "Woaah..." she said in awe "Katjaa said Maybelle could have her baby tonight!" she told him happily.

"We'll see Clementine" Katjaa chuckled.

Lee seen a large block next to Alyssa and raised an eyebrow as he kneeled down beside it, "What's this thing?" he asked.

"Daddy said it's called a salt lick" Duck said turning to Lee.

Clementine nodded "Yeah but don't lick it. It's gross."

"Did you lick it?" Alyssa asked her smiling, Lee also looked amused at the young girl.

Clementine looked like a rabbit caught in headlights "I don't know ..."

Alyssa changed the subject and kneeled down next to Duck, "Have I missed anything?" she asked.

Duck shook his head "No, not really," he sniffed and made a face "it smells funny in here."

"Like shit ... right Alyssa?" Clementine said.

Katjaa made a face at Alyssa who averted her eyes and tried not to laugh out loud, Lee rolled his eyes and tried not to smile "Hey, don't use swear words okay" he said.

Clementine nodded "Okay."

Seeing the hurt on her face at being told off, Lee suddenly remembered her hat. "Here Clementine."

"My hat! You found it!" she said ecstatically, she put it on her head and excitedly bounced on the spot "I knew you'd find it! You said you would!"

Lee smiled at her but then turned serious "Listen, did you ... give your hat to anyone?" Clementine shook her head "did you see any strangers around the motor-inn who might have taken it?" he asked.

"No ... why?" she asked confused.

Lee shook his head and smiled "It's probably nothing. Just let me know if you ever see anything like that."

"Okay, I will" she nodded then she paused "hey Lee, do you think you'll ever have any kids?"

"I'd like to someday," Lee replied honestly, even though he doubted it would happen in this world "mabye a little girl like you."

"That's nice .. you'd be a good daddy" she smiled at him "well, thanks for finding my hat."

"You're welcome Clem."

Alyssa glanced up at Lee and looked worried and he shook his head "I asked, he's fine" he said quietly, she nodded but still looked worried as she at next to the kids and watched the cow.

Lee was going to comfort her when he looked down the barn towards the darkened door and saw that it was locked. Frowning, he walked slowly down to it, and saw it was securely locked to stop anyone from getting in.

"You found it too huh?" Kenny said appearing from behind him, he frowned and stood beside him "Lee, they're hiding something. Behind this door. I got a quick look, they got boxes of stuff and something metal and sharp."

"Don't get paranoid" Lee wasn't sure if he was saying this to Kenny or himself.

"It's my JOB to be paranoid, Lee. I got my whole family on this farm right now. What about you? What about Clem and Alyssa?"

Just the thought of something happening to them was enough to make Lee clench his hands into fists "I'll protect them, no matter what."

"I know you will," Kenny nodded "look, that guy with Katjaa ... whats-his-name. He locked it up real tight the second we came in. I definitely heard a noise back there Lee."

"What?"

"My point is, we gotta know for sure!" Kenny said firmly "so go find me a hammer and I'll have this thing off in a second. You back me up in case them farmers come running."

"Hang on, man. Think this through," Lee said calmly "you smash this lock then what if it turns out you're wrong? You just fucked your chance to get a good meal in those kids you're trying to protect. Use your head, Kenny."

Kenny rolled his eyes but nodded "Alright professor. What do you have in mind?"

"Let me have a look at what we're dealing with first" Lee said, he glanced behind him in case Andy was looking to see where he went and looked at the lock once he saw the coast was clear.

"Hey, Lee?" Kenny lowered his voice to a whisper "you know how to pick a lock, right?"

"No!" Lee raised his eyebrows "why would you say that?"

"Well .. you're ... you know ... urban?"

Lee narrowed his eyes at him "Oh you are NOT saying what I think you're saying."

"Jesus man! I'm from Florida," Kenny said quickly "crazy shit just comes out of my mouth sometimes. Sorry."

Lee nodded but shook his head; first time he was called urban. He glanced down at the lock and tilted his head while he thought, then an idea came to him. "Hm..."

"What?" Kenny asked eagerly.

"See those screws? Instead of breaking the padlock, we can just take off the assembly, have a peek inside and then replace it all again, like nothing ever happened."

Kenny nodded "All right, sounds like you got a plan. I'll hang around and keep an eye on that guy with the cow."

"Andy."

"Shit ... I thought that was Danny. Whatever."

"Can I help you boys find something?" Andy had noticed them hanging about the locked door.

"Just checking out the barn here," Lee said quickly, it wasn't really a lie "never been to a dairy farm before."

Andy nodded "Okay. Well don't just roam around without me or Danny. The farm can be a dangerous place" he noticed their facial expressions at what he had just said "you know, the bandits and all?" he added "sorry about your friend."

Lee nodded "We understand, thank you."

"Hey, uh .. do me a favour. Don't fuck around with this door. Just, you know ... Mama get's nervous" Andy said sounding a little stressed.

"Andrew I need your help again" Katjaa called from the stall with Maybelle in it.

"No problem, right away 'doc."

* * *

Lee walked out of the barn and Alyssa followed him, "Hey, what's going on?" she asked frowning "you and Kenny seem to be on edge?"

Lee was about to answer when they heard a female giggling and a male chortling, raising their eyebrows they both looked to the house where Brenda and Larry were chatting away and Larry obviously flirting.

"Oh they're too old for that," Alyssa said closing her eyes and cringing "make it stop!"

Lee smiled at her but then looked around to make sure they weren't being overheard "Kenny thinks he heard something at the back of the barn, we're gonna check it out. I'm starting to feel like something isn't right here."

"I feel the same," Alyssa said quietly, her eyes flickering to Brenda "she won't let anyone see Mark at all, I asked to sit with him in case he woke up and she practically pushed me out of the room didn't even let Katjaa look him over either."

"Well, we need to figure out a way to get Andy out of the barn, so I can check out this door, plus I need something to take off the locks, a screwdriver or something" Lee said.

Alyssa went in her pocket, "Here, I found this when I took a look around," she brought out a multi-tool, "never know when it could come in handy."

"That would do the job perfectly," Lee said giving her a smile "so now all we need to do is get him out of there."

Alyssa thought for a moment before her eyes landed on the generator, "How about we break that?" she said "that would definitely get his attention, and then mabye he'll see Larry flirting with his 'mama' and beat him up" she smiled "two birds with one stone huh?"

Lee chuckled, "Okay, I'll stand by the door, you do your thing and then go tell Andy it's making a weird noise and when he leaves, you be the lookout while I get that lock off."

Alyssa nodded "Sounds like a plan, won't be long."

She waited for Lee to go back into the barn and she walked quickly to the generator and kneeled down beside it. She turned it off and quickly unscrewed the panel with the multi-tool, inside were some machinery and she decided to take out the belt that seemed to keep the generator running. Putting it all back together, she stood up straight and made sure Brenda and Larry weren't looking her way before throwing the belt into the corn field and coming into the barn.

"Andy?" she said "that generator's stopped, just thought I should let you know."

He sighed "Goddamnit, thanks for telling me darlin'."

As soon as he left the barn, Alyssa gave the multi-tool to Lee and stood by the door, "Okay go!" she whispered.

Wasting no time, Lee and Kenny walked briskly to the locked door but before they could do anything, there was a clanging noise signalling that dinner was ready, Lee sighed, perfect timing.

"Mom! Dad! Dinner time!" Duck said excitedly "it's dinner time!"

"Okay honey," Katjaa smiled "let's get Dad."

Duck ran up to them "Dad! Dad, come on let's eaaaat!" he said impatiently.

"Kenny come along honey," Katjaa called to him, waiting by the door with Alyssa and Clementine, "Kenny, c'mon don't make the children wait."

"I'll make an exscuse for you!" Kenny muttered, "get that thing off!" He left the barn with the others and Lee quickly went to work on unscrewing the lock, it didn't take long to get the screws out and he slowly pulled the doors open and he froze at the sight that greeted him.

The room was blood stained and stunk of death, dangerous looking machinery with blood splatters lay on counters and Lee felt a little sick looking at them; in one corner was a bath almost filled with blood and he felt bile in his throat and to his surprise he seen more bear traps ... like the one that had ensnared Ben's teacher.

What was going on here?

"Boy, didn't you hear the bell?" Andy said from behind him, Lee turned around and met his eyes, Andy shot him a dangerous looking smile "dinner time."


	16. Starved for Help: Chapter Seven

As Andy and Lee walked into the house, Lee could hear his group happily exclaiming at the food on the table, "Oho, Brenda you are an angel!" Lee could hear Larry saying in the dining room.

"Biscuits wow!" Duck said happily.

Lilly came walking out of the bathroom and gave him a small smile, Lee nodded and spotted a picture of Brenda and her husband hanging on the wall. They looked so happy. He also spotted a door blocked by a large wardrobe and wondered why that was there, following his eyes Andy explained "Excuse the mess. We had to block the back door after a walker got upstairs. Don't worry though, that was a while ago and they ain't been back in since."

As he walked in front of him into the dining room, Lee noticed he had a gun in his waistband, he couldn't help but feel that something bad was going to happen and wished they were all back at the motor inn ... starving ... but safer and Mark wouldn't have been injured.

Inside he spotted Kenny sitting at the head of the table with Alyssa on his right, Clementine was sitting in between Lilly and her father and Lee decided they were safe enough. Kenny thought of them as one of their own, especially Alyssa.

"Everybody sit down and I'll go get the meal!" Brenda said happily "Ooh, this is a delight!"

"Where's Mark?" Alyssa asked Brenda.

Brenda put one hand on her hip "Now don't you worry about him, I've already brought some food up. You just let him rest."

Alyssa glanced quickly at Lee and he knew she didn't believe Brenda's story either; something was happening and he decided to check it out. "Mind if I wash my hands first, before we eat?" Lee asked putting on a smile.

"Bathrooms right outside in the hall," Brenda frowned "and be sure to get under your nails, you've been muckin' around in the dirt all day."

Nodding, Lee left the dining room, but didn't go into the bathroom. Instead he quietly walked up the stairs as quickly as he could, one stair near the top creaked and he stopped and glanced behind but no one called him or came out into the hall. Breathing out in relief, he kept walking and made it to the top of the stair.

He snuck along to the bedroom where Alyssa said they had put Mark and glanced inside; it was empty. He frowned and glanced around the room, and spotted a blood stain on the floor. His heart began to beat faster in his chest and he stepped out into the hall, wondering where Mark was.

It was then that he noticed the wire on the floor, leading into a closet. Opening the door, he glanced in and saw a load of medical waste and supplies on the pulled gently on the power chord and when it came loose a little, light came shining through the hole and Lee's frown deepened; there was no lights on in the bedroom. There must be another room attached to the bedroom ... behind the bookshelf.

Walking back into the bedroom he seen light now coming from underneath the bookshelf and he quickly pushed it out the way and seen that it was covering a door. Dreading to think what was on the other side, he opened it slowly and his blood froze.

Mark lay on the ground, covered in blood and barely moving. As the door opened fully, Lee seen that both his legs were missing and now he had two bloody stumps instead. He covered his mouth, to stop himself retching and Mark slowly came too "Lee..." he whispered weakly.

"Mark! What the hell happened?" Lee knelt down close to Mark, sickened at what had happened to his friend.

"...brothers..." Mark said looking terrified.

"What the hell happened to your legs man-"

Mark shuddered and then met Lee's eyes "Don't ... eat ... dinner"

Lee felt fear wash over them as the meaning of Mark's words hit him like a ton of bricks, he froze at the news and heard Brenda shout up to him "Lee, did ya fall in?" she laughed "dinner's on the table an everyone's havin' at!"

Lee stood up quickly "The girls!" he didn't waste anytime and ran down the stairs, jumping the last few. He skidded to a halt in front of the dining room and seen Clementine and Alyssa about to start eating and he felt sick - they were about to eat Mark's legs.

"DON'T EAT THAT!" he shouted, both girls jumped but then quickly put their forks down and didn't eat anything.

Everyone seemed shocked at his sudden outburst and looked at him worriedly. "Lee, jesus man. Did you find something?"

Larry looked pissed off at Lee and glared "Sit your ass down Lee, this lady has made you a meal."

"Yeah Lee, what's gotten into you?" Lilly asked worriedly.

"Mark is upstairs with his fucking legs cut off! You're EATING him!" Lee chose to be direct although the look on Alyssa's face crushed his heart, but he needed everyone to believe him quick before something bad happened.

"Thats crazy!" Lilly shook her head but she looked unsure.

Alyssa covered her face and shook her head "Oh god no, please" she sounded in tears, "please god, no!"

"Now, now" Brenda said calmly.

"You're scaring the kids Lee," Kenny said, "Alyssa's almost in tears" he added leaning over and patting her back comfortingly.

"Lee what the hell is wrong with you?" Lilly asked him.

"Don't indulge him Lilly, it's always something with this guy!" Larry sneered.

"Go upstairs and look!" Lee snapped "You'll find a with both of his legs hacked off!" he seen them all look a bit unsure now "this is a dairy," he pointed out "not a ranch, think about it."

They all glanced nervously at Lee and then Brenda, who sighed heavily and then nodded "It's true."

"Everything coulda turned out okay for you folks" Danny muttered ominously as he continued to eat his meal.

"He woulda died anyway!" Andy said angryily "we gotta think about LIVIN'!"

"Settle down, honey," Brenda said to her eldest son, she looked around the group "growing up in rural Georgia you're taught not to waste. It's how I was raised and how I raised my boys" Alyssa looked up and shot her a deadly glare her hand tightening on the knife in her hand, while everyone else looked disgusted at Brenda's words "now, you got monsters roamin' around that do nothin' but eat people. And for what? To continue to rot till' they eat some more! We think we can put that meat to better use."

"Oh I'm think I'm gonna puke," Lilly said pushing her plate away "this isn't right."

"You're all sick ... sick in the head!" Lee snarled at Brenda.

Brenda frowned at him, "Lee, that's not a very nice thing to imply" she shook her head "Andy is right; we go after folks who were gonna die anyways, one way or another."

Danny looked up from his meal "Like y'all."

"Kenny get your gun!" Lee shouted.

"Kenny, no!" Katjaa cried as he stood up quickly from the table, he didn't get near his gun before Andy reached behind and brought out the gun he had.

"Nobody's going anywhere!" he shouted.

"We got lots of use for ya'll right here!" Danny said sickenly as he raised his rifle and aimed it slowly at everyone. Andy looked threateninly at Kenny who grudgingly sat back down at the table.

"What ... the .. what-the fucking-what!" Larry was too angry to say a complete sentence.

Lilly glared at both brothers "Put your guns down! We're walking out of here!" she shouted at Andy.

"Mommy, I don't wanna die!" Duck said fearfully.

"You don't go near my fuckin family-"

"SICK SONS OF BITCHES!"

"Everyone! Everything will be okay!" Lee said desperately trying to keep calm, even though he knew they were in trouble here.

Clementine looked terrified and she trembled a little, "Lee, Lee..." she looked at him scared and then Andy grabbed her by the hair and she shrieked as Andy pointed the gun at her.

Rage filled Lee and he made to lunge at Andy, "I'LL KILL YOU!" he snarled but he was stopped by Danny shoving the rifle against his throat.

Suddenly there was a loud banging as if something heavy was falling down the stairs, Alyssa felt her heart beat faster as she shook in her seat, she knew what that noise was. Everyone froze and you could practically feel the fear in the air as a legless Mark dragged himself in front of the dining room archway, leaving a blood stained trail as he did.

"Pleease ... Alyssa ... help?" he managed to say before collapsing on the floor, Lee glanced back at Alyssa who was frozen on the spot with a stricken look, and then at Clementine who was still being held by Andy, she pleaded him with her eyes to do something.

"Clemen-"

* * *

"OPEN THE GODDAMN DOOR! I WILL TEAR YOU FUCKERS APART WITH MY BARE-"

Lee came too, trying to open his eyes, his head was swimming and he knew Danny had smacked him hard with the butt of the rifle. As he got his bearings, he saw Larry angryily banging on the door while shouting and Lilly standing vomiting in the corner. Kenny was pacing like a caged animal looking for a way out and he was relieved when he seen Clementine come running towards him.

"Will you stop that banging!" Kenny shouted "We've got find another way out of here!"

"You sick fucking basterds!"

"Dad, stop!"

Clementine knelt beside him, "It-it was a person!" she said shocked "they tried to make us eat a person!"

"But you didn't do it ..." Lee said weakly rubbing his head.

Clementine shook her head, "No .."

Larry turned from the door and glared at Lee, "The rest of us did, Goddamnit! If you hadn't dragged your feet-!"

"C'mon Dad, now's not the time" Lilly said wiping her mouth on her sleeve.

"What happened?" he asked Clementine.

"The man hit you," she said her bottom lip wobbling, "you didn't move, I thought you were dead."

"They threw us in the meat locker" Lilly told him.

Kenny gave him a worried look "Lee, we gotta get out of here! If they so much touch my family or Alyssa, I'll kiss those sons of bitches!"

"They've got Alyssa?" Lee looked around and noticed she wasn't there, his heart sunk.

"She grabbed the knife and stuck it in Andy's leg, when they took us away they kept her, Katjaa and Duck in the house" Kenny said angryily "sick basterds said they'll have some fun with her."

"This goddamn thumbsucker was the one who brought us here!" Larry growled standing over Lee.

"Will you all just shut the fuck up!" Kenny shouted.

Clementine stood by Lee and hung onto his shirt, "I'm scared" she whispered looking up at him.

Lee put a hand around her and rubbed her shoulder "Don't be .. it's gonna be okay. I'm gonna find us a way out of here..."

Larry was back at the door hitting it with his fist "You're worse than the walkers!" he snarled.

"DAD PLEASE!" Lilly said desperately but he took no notice.

Lee looked up and saw the air conditioning, if there was some way to-

"I'll break the damn door down!"

Lilly looked up "Dad you can't get-"

"Ahh!" Larry shouted in pain, grabbing at his heart.

"Easy, easy" Lilly said worriedly as she walked up to him.

Larry's eyes widened "... Oh god..." he slumped to the floor in a heap and Lee's eyes widened, he obviously just had a heart attack ... Clementine gasped and hid her face while Lilly fell to her knees and cupped her father's face in her hands.

"No!" she said in disbelief, "Dad, come on! DAD!" she leaned over his face and her face fell "oh god, he's stopped breathing, I think he's had a heart attack" she began to try and restart his heart, her face desperate.

"Shit ... is he dead?" Kenny asked.

"He's not dead!" Lilly shrieked "somebody help me!"

Lee looked at Larry, he wasn't moving and wasn't responding to what Lilly was doing. He felt fear fill him, what if he was dead? It would only be a matter of time before he turned. Then they would be locked in a meat locker with a strong walker.

"Fuck ... if he's dead-"

"HE'S NOT DEAD!"

"You know what has to happen Lee," Kenny said in a hollow voice, Lee looked at him "think about it. You saw that poor bastard at the motel. How fast he turned."

"What are you saying!" Lilly snapped still administering CPR on her father.

"Lilly, I'm sorry. I truly, truly am" Kenny said in a grave voice "but in a few minutes, we're gonna be stuck in a locked room with a 6-foot-four, 300 pound, SERIOUSLY pissed off dead guy!"

"FUCK YOU!" Lilly glared at Kenny, "we can bring him back, LEE!" she called over her shoulder "I need you."

"We'll mourn him later, but right now we have to keep him from comin' back" Kenny said firmly.

"No!" Clementine said from behind her hands.

"Goddamnit Kenny!" Lilly growled "He's. Not. Dead!"

"Mabye your right ..." Lee said finally.

"NO! Goddamnit! My dad's survived worse than this!" Lilly said not giving up.

Lee felt the decision eat up at him; if Larry was alive and he killed him he would be a murdering basterd who killed Lilly's father on the other hand, what if he came back and got his hands on Clementine before they could stop him. "Look Kenny ... Back at the drug store when we all thought Duck was bitten .. I gave him the benefit of the doubt ... mabye we should do the same now."

Kenny shook his head "That was different, Duck wasn't bitten. But, come on ... we know this guy's not gonna make it" he closed his eyes and looked tired "remember what Ben said, gotta destroy the brain" he seen Lee's unsure look "come on Lee, I'm right about this! I know you've got my back. You ALWAYS do!"

"Goddamnit Lee! I NEED you! Please help me!" Lilly begged "come on dad, wake up, wake up!"

Lee realised what he had to do ... what he always had to do; protect Clementine.

"You're right Kenny," he said shaking his head "let's get this over with."

"You fucking monsters!" Lilly screamed "both of you!"

Clementine ran into the corner looking petrified "I don't wanna see" she choked out closing her eyes and covering her ears.

"I'm sorry Lilly," Lee said "I really am" he walked over and tried to grab her hands and pull her away but she fought against him furiously.

"No, no, no!" she screamed "get off me, don't do this!" she elbowed him sharply and he lost his grip and she fell on top of her dad trying to shield him with her body. He grabbed her arms again and pulled against her, while Kenny picked up a salt lick and walked slowly over.

"No! No! PLEASE NO!"

He managed to pull her back just as Kenny slammed the salt lick onto Larry's face hard, he looked shocked at his own actions and backed away slowly as the blood splattered everywhere. Blood oozed from under the salt lick and Lilly sat crumpled by her father's side.

"God help us" Kenny whispered, he leaned down to Lilly "I'm sorry. I know it-"

"DONT YOU FUCKING TOUCH ME!" Lilly snapped, tears in her eyes and her fathers blood on her shirt.

Clementine cried loudly in the corner, shaking, Lee immediantly went over and kneeled down in front of her, "Clem, you okay?" he asked softly.

"Why Lee?" she asked him, tears still on her cheeks "Lilly said he wasn't dead!"

He looked down and closed his eyes "I'm sorry. We couldn't take that chance" he opened them and looked up at her "you understand why we had to do this Clementine?"

"So he won't turn into one of those monsters?" she asked slowly.

"Thats right," Lee nodded, he gently hugged her to him and she gripped him tight, "shh, I know ... I know. But you gotta be strong right now," he leaned back and looked her in the eyes "I need you to be strong. Think about something else... something hopeful."

"Like what?" she asked him, wiping her eyes.

"How about your walkie-talkie ... those pretend talks with your Mom and Dad. Don't those make you feel better?" Lee asked kindly.

Clementine nodded "Sometimes..." she still looked scared "we're gonna get out right? You found a way out?"

"I'm working on it" he promised her and stood up to look back at the air conditioning. He walked over and looked up at it, "I wonder ... there ought to be an air duct behind this unit .. mabye big enough for one of us to fit through..."

"I dunno Lee ... seems like a long shot" Kenny said coming to stand next to him.

"Does the air conditioner come off?" Clementine asked.

Lee nodded "I think I could take it off .. if I had something to remove the screws ... the multi-tool!" he checked his pockets and then sighed "of course they took it. Shit."

"Mabye there's something else we could use, I've got a rock" she suggested.

"A rock won't help ... but a COIN might do the trick. Do you have a coin?" he asked and he felt disheartened when Clementine shook her head. He knew Kenny didn't have anything, especially coins in this world they lived in. Nobody bought anything, or bribed-

_"What do you want? A handout? I've got 60 cents in my pocket, if you shut up and quit being such a pansy."_

He rememebered back at the motor-inn, before this whole mess started, overhearing Larry shout at Mark. He glanced down at Larry's corpse, this wasn't going to be easy.

Kneeling down next to Lilly he put on a soft tone "Lilly .. I-I'm sorry" she glanced at him and looked away disgusted.

"Don't talk to me Lee, don't fucking talk to me."

Time was of the esscence and Lee didn't waste anytime "You've got to pull yourself together Lilly."

"Why?" she said looking at him angryily "for your sake? So you can feel better about ... about what you did!"

"For your OWN sake" Lee objected.

"Right, because you fucking care SO much about me ..."

Lee bit his tongue at what she said, if it were Kenny or himself who had a heart attack and fell, would she be so willing to try and bring them back? "I think I may have found a way out of here. But I need something to remove the screws on the air conditioner. If you had something I could use as a screwdriver ... a coin or something-"

"No!"

Lee looked uncomfortable "What about ... him? Look, I know this is a terrible time for it, but ... back at the motor-inn, Larry mentioned something about keeping coins in his pockets-"

"In other words," Lilly interrupted with a dangerous tone "my father's more useful to you dead than alive!"

Lee shook his head "If he was alive, and had the key to getting us out of here, do you think he'd keep it to himself?"

Lilly closed her eyes "What do you want? My blessing to loot his corpse?" she spat.

"Your permission."

The fight left Lilly's face and she shook her head "Do what you have to do."


	17. Starved for Help: Chapter Eight

Searching through Larry's pockets with Lilly glaring at him had been one of the worst moments in Lee's life, he finally found some coins deep in the dead mans pocket and quickly backed away, leaving Lilly to her silent grieving. Walking up to the air conditioner, he just hoped at least one of the coins could fit. Lee could have cried with happiness when one of the coins fitted into the screw top perfectly and he got to work quickly unscrewing the unit off.

Kenny seeing his sucess came over and sighed with relief. "You got it?" he said hopefully.

"Yeah," Lee nodded as he removed the screw from the unit, "one more should do it."

Together, the two men just managed to catch the unit and slowly lowered it to the floor to sit it down. Looking up at the vent, Kenny nodded "Well, there's our way out, Lee," he said "looks like it'll probably lead right into that back room ..."

Lee sighed "It's too small for us to fit through though ..."

"Lee, I can do it."

They both turned and looked at Clementine, who was no longer crying and who was also their only chance. Lee kneeled down and looked her in the eyes seriously "I know you're brave enough" he said.

"I'm scared" she admitted to him.

"Remember the tree house?" he reminded her "you and Alyssa held out for days."

"And we saved your life" she said remembering.

Lee chuckled at her and nodded "That's right."

"I want to help save Alyssa," Clementine looked up determinedly "and Katjaa and Duck."

"If you do this, you'll save all of us" Kenny said nodding proudly at her.

"Not all of us" Lilly whispered, still kneeling by Larry's corpse, Clementine looked nervously at her but Lee took her hand and led her to the vent. He picked her up, and helped her reach the vent where she crawled through and paused at the opening.

"What do I do when I get out?" she asked.

Lee glanced up "See if you can get to the other side of that door and open it."

Clementine held her breath as she cautiously crawled forward, scared one of the St. John's were going to be waiting on the other side for her but she thought of Alyssa and kept going. There was an opening and she crawled through, dropping from the vent onto the floor, she looked up and saw one of the brothers sitting with his back to her, through the gap in the door.

Gasping, she quickly covered her mouth and forced herself to remain quiet, she wouldn't do anyone any good if she got caught. Quietly sneaking past the door, and ignoring all of the blood and horrible looking machinery, she was glad to see the key still in the door and turned it quickly.

Opening the door, she glanced in and saw Kenny and Lee look relieved to see her. "Are you okay?" Lee said at once, coming over and checking her over while Kenny left the room "did anyone see you?"

Clementine shook her head "No, but theres a man outside."

Lee glanced over at Lilly and seen that she hadn't moved a muscle "Lilly, we gotta go."

"Leave me alone" she said in a dead-pan voice.

Kenny appeared at the door, "Lee! I can see him" he whispered.

Clementine watched as Lee tried one more time to get Lilly to leave, "It's not saf-"

"For God's sake Lee!" she glanced up at him and looked grief-stricken "I didn't even get to say goodbye."

"Get in here," Kenny whispered "I got an idea."

Lee walked towards the door and looked down at Clementine "Stay here. Take care of Lilly okay?"

Clementine nodded "I will."

She waited until Lee had left before she sighed and walked slowly over to Lilly, she patted her shoulder and sat beside her. "I'm sorry," she said "but I'm here with you."

Lilly's bottom lip trembled and her shoulders shook as Clementine comforted her in silence.

* * *

Lee stepped out into the room full of what he now knew was Mark's blood and looked around the room, all this machinery the St. John's had was for cutting up people, human beings just like them. It was sickening. He didn't want to imagine just how many poor, starving people had been tricked into becoming food for the St. John's to eat, trade and give to other people, how many people had actually been slaughtered in the very room he was standing in now.

Kenny looked around looking both disgusted and horrified "I told you there was something up with this room! It's a goddamned human slaughter-house."

They crouched down and Lee spotted a sickle and he picked it up and snuck over to where Kenny was in front of the door; no way he was going up against the brothers with no weapon. "So what's the plan?" he whispered.

Kenny glanced again through the gap in the door, "That dumbass is so caught up in his own rant that we could probably sneak right up on him" he nodded to Lee, "just stick behind me, incase anything goes down When we get to the front, grab his gun."

Lee nodded back at him, "Sounds good."

"Okay, you ready?"

"Yeah, let's go."

"-how was I supposed to know that legless asshole would wake up? What was I supposed to do, sit by him all night-" Danny was sitting on a hay bale outside the barn, muttering darkly to himself.

Kenny nodded and they both started to sneak towards the entrance, his gun was just sitting by him, Lee could easily just grab it and-

"Dan, what are you doing outside the barn?" Andy came walking out of the rain and frowned at his brother.

"Oh shit!" Kenny hissed and they quickly hid in an empty stall. Shutting the door, they crouched and listened to the brothers talking.

"Just guarding the place, like you said."

"Well, quit sittin' out in the rain like a damn weirdo. Mama said we can't keep that many folks alive and not expect any trouble. Pick one to keep and kill the rest."

"Can I pick which one to keep alive?" Danny sounded delighted at this.

"Not the girl, not enough meat on her to trade. We're keeping the other one for food simply for cutting me in the leg, little bitch."

There was silence then it was broken by the cow moo'ing loudly, "Oh I know Maybelle, this is not-"

"Hey, keep your eye on him" Kenny whispered.

Lee leaned to the side and slowly opened the stall door, Danny was still talking to the cow while setting up another bear trap. He curled his lip and closed it again looking at Kenny, "Sick fucker thinks this is a game" he shook his head "we'll take him out together."

"How?"

"He doesn't know we're out. He's gotta walk past us to get to the meat locker. We can take him out when his back is to us."

Kenny nodded, "See what he's doing now."

Opening the door again, Lee was met with the barrell of Danny's gun pointing right at him, without thinking, he quickly jumped to action and pushed the gun upwards. It fired and Lee immediantly got a ringing in his ears, and he stumbled while trying to get his bearings. While Danny quickly tried to reload, he reached down and grabbed the sickle and sunk it into Danny's chest.

Yelling out in pain, Danny pushed Lee back hard and he hit his head on the stall, while he was down, the younger brother gritted his teeth and pulled out the sickle from his chest. He aimed the gun at Lee but before he could fire, the stall door burst open and Kenny came out wielding another sickle and sliced Danny in the chest, backing away Danny tried to avoid the next hit but Kenny got him again on his shoulder.

Falling back, Danny's leg became trapped in the bear trap he had laid out and he groaned in pain while grabbing at his leg. "Where's my family, asshole!" Kenny demanded.

"You can't have them," Danny said, trying to breathe through the pain "we need the vet!"

They heard a scream come from the house and Kenny's face drained of colour, "Kat!" he shouted, "Lee, come on!" he said urgently.

"Just go," he said, looking down at Danny with his hands clenched "I won't be far behind."

Kenny nodded and ran out into the rain to find his family, Lee reached over and picked up the pitchfork and held it in his hands, and held it near Danny's face; this sick fucker had butchered his friend and tried to make the group eat his legs for dinner.

He was going to enjoy making this sick basterd pay for that.

Danny noticed this and smiled manically "You see?" he said gritting his teeth as blood oozed from his wounds "you understand now, don't you? You can have me! It's how the world works now! Give part of yourself ... so others can live!"

"Mark never volunteered to be food!" Lee snarled at him.

Danny ignored his comment "You gotta keep me alive. If you kill me, the meat gets tainted! You can't eat it!" he said desperately.

"You're already tainted!"

He raised the pitchfork and narrowed his eyes, wondering if he would be a monster like them if he did kill him."You ain't gonna kill me, just like you didn't kill Jolene ... you don't have what it takes!" Danny mocked "fucking coward!"

Lee snapped and drove the pitchfork into Danny's chest with a yell, who looked shocked at what he did and tried to pull out the pitchfork whilst choking on his own blood and then he became still. "No!" Lee heard Clementine cry out and he breathed heavily, he would have rather she didn't see that.

He looked over and saw she hid behind Lilly who was holding Danny's rifle in her hand, her face void of expression. Walking over to Clementine, he was about to explain why he did what he did when he heard Katjaa shouting frantically at someone.

"Just go," Lilly said, seeing the confliction on his face "I'll keep Clementine safe."

Lee nodded and ran out into the rain, he looked about hoping to see where Kenny had gone but there was no sign of him anywhere and Katjaa had fallen silent. "Kenny!" he called out as quiet as he could, the rain was falling heavier now and there was a rumbling of thunder as lightning hit the sky. Looking up at the farmhouse, Lee seen nearly all the lights on and knew that's where he had to go.

Before he could take another step, he heard rustling coming from the corn field and he froze. A walker stumbled through the corn and he wished he still had the sickle for a weapon when suddenly it fell to the ground and to his relief he saw Carley and Ben emerge from the cornfield crouching low.

"Carley!"

She stood up straight, "Lee? Is everyone okay?" she whispered "we heard screams as we were coming up to the house."

"They attacked us."

"I knew it!" Ben whispered "I told you we couldn't trust them!"

"Shit," Carley cursed "how many of them are there?"

"Two left," Lee said "Larry's dead. They chopped off Mark's legs and tried to feed them to us."

Carley looked shocked "Shit," she repeated "is everyone else okay?"

"They've got Alyssa, Duck and Katjaa in the house and I don't know where the fuck Kenny is" Lee replied.

"Alright, we're coming in to help!" Carley said determinedly.

Lee shook his head "The main gate is too dangerous, go around the fence and see if there's a back way in. I'll keep looking for Kenny. Do you have a weapon?" he asked her.

She loaded her gun up and nodded "I never leave home without it. Ben, stick close and Lee," she gave him a worried look "be careful."


	18. Starved for Help: Chapter Nine

Sneaking up towards the house, Lee stayed low and kept a look out for Kenny, hoping to run into him instead of Andy or Brenda. The house seemed quiet but Lee had learned the hard way to not judge something or someone on their appearence.

"No, please! GOD NO!" he heard Katjaa scream from the house.

Brenda's voice had lost it's supposed kindness and was now harsh "Just shut up and he'll be fine!"

"Something's up," Andy said from within the house and Lee stopped in his tracks "I'm gonna take the boy and check round back."

"Get your damn hands off him, you sick fuck!" Lee was relieved to hear Alyssa's voice, Andy hadn't done anything to her.

"No, please, don't take my boy, take me!" Katjaa sobbed.

"Let go woman!" Andy shouted.

"Settle down!" Brenda snapped "I don't wanna hurt y'all!"

Seeing they weren't going to come out of the front, Lee hurried to the front door and just as he reached the steps, Brenda's silhouette came into view as she stood at the door. "Andy? Danny, i that you? What's going on out there?"

Lee stood up straight "I left Danny in the barn ... he got what he deserved!" he said in a dangerous tone.

Obviously without her sons in the room with her, Brenda got scared as Lee heard her gasp and then retreat from the door. "Come here!" she said roughly and he heard Alyssa try to fight back.

"Let me go!"

He ran up to the door and through the screen door he stopped when he seen Brenda holding a gun to Alyssa's head, "Lee!" she shouted, Katjaa stood frozen on the spot as Brenda pushed the gun right against Alyssa's forehead.

"Get back!" Brenda shouted at Katjaa then she turned to Lee, "Don't come in here! You just had to go snooping around didn't you!"

"Let her go Brenda!" Lee said slowly opening the door. He stepped into the hall and he noticed Alyssa's head was bleeding a little and his anger grew, he took another step and Brenda aimed the gun at him while keeping a tight hold on Alyssa by the neck.

"Lee! Don't you take another step!" she warned, backing up the stairs by a step.

Lee forced a calm voice and held up both his hands "Brenda, come on now, you know you don't want to do this!"

She shook her head and put the gun back to Alyssa who stopped struggling, "Just go away and leave us be!"

Walking forward slowly, he tried to reach them but stopped when Brenda looked back at him. "Stop right there I meant it!" she shrieked over the wind.

Lee gritted his teeth, "Think about what you're doing. It doesn't have to end like this."

Brenda shook her head again and went up a few more stairs, "I'll kill her Lee" she threatened.

Lee glanced up and tried not to let the horror of seeing Mark as a walker show on his face, the wind must have been too loud with the open window behind Brenda as she didn't show she seen the walker grasping through the gaps at her. "Just let her go!" Katjaa begged, still not moving in fear of Alyssa getting shot. While Katjaa distracted her, Lee took two more steps near Brenda, almost herding her into Mark's zombie arms.

"STAY BACK!" she shouted "don't do anything stupid!"

"What happened Brenda?" Alyssa choked out "your family was obviously smart! How did it come to this?"

Brenda tightened her hold and walked up the stairs more, "Just stop!"

Katjaa seen what Lee was doing and took a step closer to the stairs "Brenda, please."

Lee kept walking and was at the foot of the stairs before Brenda aimed the gun back at him, with three people to control, she was obviously stressed "I don't want to kill you Lee!" she said desperately.

"Please don't make this any worse" he said, putting his hand on the bannister, "she's just a young girl."

Brenda ignored him and went up the stairs now as quick as she could, still holding onto Alyssa but she went too far and Mark grabbed her by the neck and pulled her to his snarling mouth. Alyssa broke free and almost fell down the stairs but Lee caught her, she glanced behind her and witnessed Mark devouring Brenda's neck and she stumbled in Lee's arms in shock.

"They took Duck!" Katjaa said worriedly "where's Kenny?"

Before Lee could reply, they heard Andy shouting from the front of the house. "I said don't move, asshole!"

"Don't you fuckin' hurt him!" Kenny snarled back at him.

Katjaa shook her head, "Oh my god!" she said and ran out towards the voices, Lee grabbed Alyssa's hand and dragged her away from Mark and Brenda. Outside, Andy had the rifle pressed against the back of Duck's head and Kenny stood opposite him.

"Let him go!" Kenny shouted.

"That ain't gonna happen," Andy said gripping Duck by the neck of his t-shirt.

Lee walked up beside Kenny "Andy don't!" he said but stopped when the gun pointed at him.

"SHUT UP!"

Seeing an oppertunity, Kenny ran forward to get his son but Andy quickly fired the gun and caught his side, he fell yelling in pain to the ground and Katjaa screamed and ran to her husband. Duck looked shaken at the loud bang "DAD!" he shouted beginning to cry.

Alyssa went to Katjaa's side and watched horrified at the blood pouring out of Kenny's wound, "Here, tie this round him tight!" she said trembling as she took off her jumper and handed it to Katjaa, "to stop the bleeding."

Glancing around, she watched with her heart in her mouth as Lee advanced towards Andy who still had the gun pointed at him. "Who the fuck do you people think you are? Look what you've done!" Andy shouted angryily.

"Calm down" Lee said, trying not to aggravate him whilst he still had a gun pointed at Duck.

Andy's eyes widened "Calm down? What for, huh? All we wanted was some goddamn gasoline!"

Suddenly he stumbled and clutched his ear as a gunshot went off, Lee glanced up and seen Carley holding her gun out and took this chance to disarm Andy, pushing Duck towards Katjaa he ran straight for Andy, who recovered and tried to aim the gun at Lee but he grabbed it and they began to wrestle with each other. Lee managed to shove it back into his face and he heard a crack as it hit off against Andy's mouth.

Andy roughly pulled the gun and they both tumbled down the hill the house sat on, and broke the fence as they landed on it, Lee rolled over and tried to get up but Andy was quicker and kicked him in the face making him fall back.

While Lee was down, he switched on the generator and pulled Lee over to the electric fence, pushing his face close to it.

"Get up!" he said roughly "get the fuck up!"

Lee wasn't able to throw him off and Andy held his arms tight and slowly pushed him towards the deadly fence, Lee struggled as hard as he could. He glanced up and seen Lilly and Clementine at the barn door and shouted out for help desperately.

"Lilly help!"

She did nothing but stand there and lowered her gaze, Lee couldn't help but feel betrayed by her. Still pushing his head forward, Lee managed to pull his arm free and elbowed Andy hard in the stomach, he fell back and Lee wasted no time in pinning his arms down with his legs and punching him as hard as he could in the face.

Each punch was for every second of pain this man put Mark through and for each bit of pain Alyssa was going to go through now.

Alyssa stood up slowly as Katjaa helped Kenny to stand and they all stood in the rain and watched as Lee bloodied up Andy's face. Letting out a shaky breath she walked forward and swallowed back tears that threatened to fall. "Lee, it's over" she said softly "let's just go."

He stopped and breathed heavily, Andy now had a swollen eye, busted lip and bleeding nose. Standing, Lee bent over trying to catch his breath. Coughing and spitting out a mouthful of blood, he barely managed to sit up. "Is that all ya got, Lee? ... you ain't shit!" he shouted.

Lee stood next to Alyssa and shook with anger "It's over!"

"FUCK YOU!" Andy said angryily, trying to stand up "as soon as Dan and Mama get out here you're all fucked!" he stood swaying slightly, glaring at Lee.

"They're both dead!" Lee said frowning.

Andy stood stunned and his one good eye widened in horror "... What did you do? WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO!"

Lee looked at Alyssa's tear stained face and put his arm around her as they turned towards their group, "Don't you DARE walk away from me, Lee!" Andy shouted after them, pointing a finger. When he seen Lee wasn't going to stop, he fell to his knees and began to get angry "get back here and finish this!"

Lee stopped but he shook his head, there had been enough death on this farm without him adding to it.

"Get back here and fight me like a man, Lee!"

With the heavy rain, the generator started smoking and died from overheating and the fence shuddered to a halt and stopped being electrical, as if sensing they wouldn't be fried. Walkers came from everywhere and began to storm the farm.

"They're getting in!" Clementine pointed at the walkers climbing over the fence.

Lee shook his head, no one else was dying tonight. "Let's go, let's go!" he said leading the group away from the farm, they followed without saying anything and they all ran from the scene leaving Andy to the walkers, who was still shouting for Lee.

"LEEEEEEE!" his voice echoed through the night until finally, he fell silent as the walkers came all around him.

* * *

The walk back to the motor inn was one of silence with two members of the group missing, Alyssa walked alone feeling numb, the loss of Mark still eating away at her heart. The image of him reanimated as a walker flashed through her head and she bit her lip trying to stop herself from crying.

_"I'm not going anywhere."_

_"Makes two of us" _

She closed her eyes and hugged herself, wishing she could open her eyes and this would have all been a dream and they would all be safe at the motor-inn and Mark would still be alive.

Lee kept his eyes on the road, keeping watch for walkers or bandits or anyone. You couldn't trust anybody at all anymore and Lee vowed never to get in that situation again, from now on. He trusted no one but his group.

"Hey, Lee?" Carley sidled up beside him and matched his step "I'd say I'm sorry for leaving the motel unattended but ... ya know."

"I'm glad you showed up when you did," Lee said quietly, the first he spoke since leaving the farm "if you hadn't taken that shot at Andy, we might not have gotten out of there."

Carley glanced at him nervously "Were they really killing people? ... For food?"

"Yeah they were."

"That is sick," Carley whispered "God, just ... eugh. Clementine ... she doesn't know, right?"

Lee glanced at her "She's not stupid Carley" he said sadly.

Wanting to change the subject, Carley reached in her pocket and gave Lee the video camera he had found at Jolene's camp. "Katjaa managed to grab this while she was in the house. She said it was with your stuff."

Lee stopped and accepted it off of her "Yeah, I found it while I was looking for the people who shot Mark," he met her eyes "do you want it?"

Carley shook her head "Why don't you keep it. Sometimes it helps to have something you can document your thoughts on."

Lee looked behind her and saw Kenny leaning heavily against a small fence, "I'm gonna go check on Kenny," he said "watch out for the girls ... especially Alyssa."

Carley nodded and walked over to where Alyssa had stopped and was staring into space, he knew she was hurting bad. Walking over to where Kenny was, Lee caught his eye.

"How are you doing?" Katjaa asked worriedly to her husband.

"I'll be fine," he said smiling weakly "I'm just .. not as young as I used to be" he nodded to Lee who walked over "hon, go on ahead and give me and Lee a second" he waited till they were out of earshot before he sighed "there's going to be fallout."

Lee looked down and nodded "For killing Lilly's dad? Yeah, I would imagine so."

"What do you think?"

Lee thought for a moment, "I'd have been shot dead if it wasn't for you," he looked him in the eyes "I'm with you, Kenny, we'll do what needs to be done."

"You're damn right," Kenny clapped a hand to Lee's shoulder "listen, that RV back at the motor inn, is just about ready. I've not changed my mind, I still want you, Clem and Alyssa to come with us when leave."

"Yeah?"

"Hell yeah!" Kenny said smiling "we're a team, man. Me and you! By taking out Larry before he turned, you saved all of us in that meat locker. And that saved my family too. Yeah, I'd say you earned it."

Lee nodded and Kenny walked by to catch up with his family, and he noticed Clementine walking up to him. "C'mon Clem, stay close."

She looked down and spoke softly "Lee, did you have to kill those men?" she asked.

Lee knelt down and decided to be honest about the situation they had been in, "Yes. They were bad men, Clementine. They killed Mark and were going to kill all of us. They had to be stopped. Understand?"

Clementine nodded while thinking it over, "... yes, I think so."

"Hey, Dad?" Duck said from up ahead "what's that noise?"

They all stopped and listened and sure enough there was a unusual noise, Kenny walked ahead a little and listened hard. "Sounds like a car" he said quietly.

"Oh god," Ben said quietly "not more strangers."

Lee and Kenny both looked at each other and took the lead, cautiously heading forward through the dark woods, they slowly turned around the bend and saw a car sitting in the woods with it's lights still blazing. Lee crouched down and took cover behind a tree, with Kenny behind him for back up, he looked around and called out;

"Hello?"

When he was greeted with the same silence, he slowly walked forward to the station wagon and glanced inside; empty. There were sweetie wrappers and empty cans littering the front seat and Lee reached in and turned off the engine, he glanced at the fuel tank and seen everything was empty, "Figures" he sighed and got out the car.

"Oh crap" Kenny was bending down looking into the boot, "baby, you gotta see this! There is a shit load of food and supplies back here!"

Katjaa looked amazed "This food could save all of us."

"Too late for some of us" Lilly said bitterly.

Kenny sighed and shook his head, while Duck looked nervously at his father. Ben walked forward and shook his head "Look, we don't know if these people are dead."

Lilly seemed to agree with Ben "If they come back, then we're just monsters who came out of the woods and ruined their lives."

Alyssa stood in the background with Clementine, who watched the adults talk, "This stuff isn't ours" she said simply.

Duck seemed to share Clementine's sense of right and wrong, "Dad, whose car is it?"

"Don't worry about that Duck, it's ours now" Kenny replied to his son.

"It's abandoned Ducky, don't worry" Katjaa said soothingly.

"What if it's not?" Clementine sounded a little angry now, "what if it's not abandoned? What if it IS someone's?"

Lee looked down and sighed, this world was different from the one Clementine was used too. As much as he didn't want her to be a part of this new one, after today, he realised that wasn't possible. Kneeling down to her, he gave her a sad look "We have to take this, Clementine. We need it to survive."

"Who says it's your decision to make?" Lilly said angryily walking up to Lee with the gun in her hands.

"And who says it's yours?" Alyssa spoke up walking towards Lilly "you wanna sit starving at the motor inn? You go on ahead, you don't need to be a part of this."

"Hey, we don't have time for this shit" Kenny said warningly, stepping inbetween Lilly and Alyssa, "like it or not, we NEED this food. Now get over here and open the trunk, Lee."

Lee stood up straight and looked at Lilly, who was almost daring him with her eyes not to listen to her. She looked away and he walked past her, he could hear Alyssa explaining to Clementine why they needed to take the food and was glad she wasn't in shock anymore he was starting to get worried.

Walking over, he unlocked the trunk and began to hand out the supplies so everyone was carrying something, Clementine wandered over still looking unsure and Lee spotted a small hoodie lying in the back. "This hoodie looks to be about your size. Why don't you hold on to this, it might get cold" Lee said holding it out to Clementine.

"... it's not mine."

"We're not like the bandits, Clem" Alyssa said softly "we didn't hurt anybody to get this. Understand?"

Clementine glanced between them both and sighed "I guess so" she said accepting the hoodie.

Lee glanced into the now empty trunk, he looked to Clementine and saw she had her arms crossed and knew she wasn't okay with this at all. He was about to go talk to her when Carley came up to them, "Hey, there were some batteries in one of those boxes. I thought they might work in your camcorder" she said to Lee, she smiled down at Clementine "here, you can have some too .. for your walkie-talkie."

"Batteries huh? Think you can handle those Miss Technology?" Lee teased her.

"You're not gonna let me live that down, are you?" Carley smiled at him, she put the batteries in and watched the screen and the smile slowly died on her lips. "Oh god. Lee, you're gonna want to see this ..." she held it out to him and Lee's eyebrows raised.

"Oh shit."

* * *

_The camera zoomed in on the motor-inn as Mark and Larry carried out a couch from one of the rooms, Carley sat in one of the seats watching something off camera, then panning down, Kenny was directing Lee pushing a car to block off one of the entrances. _

_As the car moved, it revealed Clementine sitting drawing on the pavement and Lilly coming up to talk to her-_

_Then the image crackled and the camera was sitting on it's side, an angry Jolene stood shouting at people that weren't in the frame "JAKE! BART, LINDA AND ALL YA'LL FUCKIN' SICKOS FROM THE SAVE-LOTS! THEY CALL YA'LL BANDITS BUT YOU'RE FUCKING RAPIST MONSTERS-"_

_Again, the camera was filming the motor inn, this time when the children were drawing and Carley and Ben sat around, the day Lee brought back Ben and his teacher from the woods, before all of this mess started. _

_It zoomed into Clementine and Jolene began to talk "Oh darlin', baby look at you. Look. At. You. Oh, you need a mama sweethear. We won't let them bandits get you, will we."_

_"-__Hey Clementine, everything ok?"_

_"Not really."_

_"Where's your hat?"_

_"I don't know, can you help me find it?"_

_"Sure, when did you lose it?"_

_"I had it a couple of days ago."_

_"I promise, if I find it-"_

_Jolene scoffed over the conversation and turned the camera around to film herself talking "Ya'll all thinking you're safe, sittin' there actin' like things are they the way they used to be, the dead don't kill their own! It's the living you gotta be afraid of ... the people I used to call friends ... the people who took ..." she swallowed her tears and shook her head "don't worry little girl. Bandits got their eye on that dairy. As long as they keep getting food from them, you'll be safe. I promise."_


	19. Long Road Ahead: Chapter One

Old newspapers and debris littered the streets of the once busy town of Macon, no one was out enjoyin the sunshine, window shopping or meeting friends. Instead, Macon was like a ghost town, not a soul was to be seen, shops and buildings were all boarded up and no one would pick here to meet up.

Lee followed Kenny through Macon as they ran past all the abandoned shops. Every run into the place got more and more dangerous each time and supplies were getting harder to find. The drugstore was getting pretty empty. He didn't know what they would do once it ran out.

Crouching down low, he held Mark's rifle in his hands steady as they peered around a corner, making sure the street was empty. As he always did, he stared at the helicopter now crashed into his parent's drugstore, he remembered the day they heard all the commotion and next day there were some walkers dressed in military gear and helmets walking around.

"Looks like this is our lucky day" Kenny said quietly.

Lee nodded "Yeah, this might actually go smoothly."

Kenny kept scanning the town, incase walkers came out of nowhere like they usually did. "We deserve it after last time" he murmured. They had came close to being cornered by walkers, they were lucky that they managed to escape through an alleyway.

Glancing around, they continued their way through the town towards the drugstore, as they walked Kenny groaned and clutched at his side "Mmph, man" he muttered, he shook his head and glanced at Lee, "so where do you come down on stayin' or goin'?" he asked.

"You mean packing up the motel and getting in the RV?"

Kenny nodded at Lee, "Yeah. We've been talkin' about it but have you made up your mind yet?"

"We should go. The motel's run it's course and it's not safe" Lee sighed.

"You're damn right it has, we pile into the RV and don't pull over 'till we see water. And if Lilly's deadset on staying, then well, that's the way it goes" Kenny said firmly.

They walked up to the rig crashed into the side of the pharmacy, surprisingly, it was a good thing as it meant they were high up before entering and could see any walkers wandering about. "Okay, just like last time. Over the rig, into the pharmacy and scrape together whatever supplies are left" Kenny said.

"We didn't leave much in there" Lee said.

"We're out of options, somethin's better than nothing" Kenny said before climbing up the ladder, Lee kept his eyes on the street but his head snapped round when he heard the noise of something breaking, glancing up he seen the ladder snap at the top.

"Shit!"

"You okay?" he asked Kenny, remembering his side.

"The ladders come loose, I'm not sure how many more trips she's got in her" Kenny sighed at him.

"I'm not sure how many trips we've got in us" Lee muttered, looking up at him.

Kenny looked away and nodded "No kiddin."

Looking around, Lee wondered if there was something nearby that he could use to reach to the top of the rig. His eyes fell on an army jeep, but more importantly, the winch at the front of it. Grabbing it, he started to pull it towards the rig hoping that his plan would work.

"Lilly's not doin' so good, huh?" Kenny asked while keeping watch.

Lee shook his head "It's not good. I'm worried."

"No, it's not," Kenny agreed "I hope she doesn't snap. I might've saved our lives in that meat locker, you know?"

Lee didn't say anything, they had had this talk many times and there was no point; what happened, happened. And nothing was going to change that. Reaching the rig, Lee hooked it ontot and walked back to the jeep and flicked the switch, to his relief it kickstarted into life and began to pull itself closer to the rig.

"Your girl still upset with you for agreeing to take that stuff from the station wagon?"

Lee walked alongside the jeep "I hope not."

"She'll get there, at least Alyssa can help her understand," Kenny hesitated "how's she doing anyway after ..."

Lee sighed, since the dairy, Alyssa had become quieter and more solitary, she would often take the night shifts and nap through the day. He knew she had nightmares, one night she screamed loudly and woke up in tears and he comforted her and she shook in his arms. After that, she never slept unless she passed out or absolutely had too. It was always Mark's name she called out and Lee knew she was hurting bad even though she wouldn't allow it to show.

"She's in the same boat as Lilly, I just hope she can handle it better" Lee said sadly "she won't talk about her feelings to me or anyone."

"Let's just hope she doesn't go off on her own again" Kenny said shaking his head.

The jeep came to a stop in front of the rig and Lee climbed up onto the hood of it, "Duck was asking about that guy at Hershel's farm last night" Kenny said quietly.

"Really?" Lee said standing up straight on top of the car "I wasn't sure it phased him."

"Of course it did."

"It was a scary situation for him; Shawn dying and all" Lee said.

Kenny sighed "I just worry that he's always gonna think it was his fault." He leaned over and offered Lee his hand, who looked up doubtfully.

"You sure you're up for this?" Lee asked hesitantly.

Kenny smiled weakly back "Lee, I'm fine. I've got this, gimmie your hand."

Lee took his hand and Kenny began pulling him up the rig, he was almost to the top when Kenny gasped and dropped his hand to clutch at his side. Lee wasn't able to grab onto the rig and fell flat on his back on top of the jeep, hitting his head off the windscreen. Feeling dazed, he looked up worriedly at Kenny who glanced around; Lee just hoped that no walkers would have heard. Nothing came crawling out and Kenny shook his head at Lee, they were in the clear.

"Jesus, are you okay?" Lee asked him.

"I'm fine," Kenny shook his head and sat up "shit, I'm sorry pal. I thought it'd be healed up better."

"You're lucky it wasn't any worse ... you cou-"

Lee was cut off by a loud screaming coming from the street, a woman came running out a shop and screamed again as a walker came out after her, she tripped and quickly got to her feet while shouting for help. Trying to escape she stopped suddenly as more walkers came out of buildings attracted by her screaming. "SOMEBODY HELP ME!" she screamed as she looked around at the gathering walkers.

"What the- what the hell is that?" Kenny widened his eyes "a walker?"

"Walkers don't scream, do they?" Lee asked watching the scene unfold.

"Jesus! I don't think so."

Raising his gun and looking down the scope, Lee glanced at the number of walkers now around his girl; he didn't have enough bullets to get rid of them all. The walkers snarled as they tried to catch their prey, stumbling all ways as the woman ran about still screaming her heart out. "It's a girl!" he said to Kenny "she's going to get us killed bringing out all the walkers!"

"No shit!" Kenny paused "actually ..."

Lee watched as a walker crawled from underneath a lorry and bit the women on the leg, he closed his eyes and sighed. There was no saving her now. "Fuck, we gotta shoot her. Put her out of this misery" he said turning to look up at Kenny.

"They don't know we're here" Kenny pointed out.

"What do you mean?" Lee asked over the screams.

"I mean, we leave her alive and she draws them all to her," Kenny explained "buying us time."

"Ken-"

"Think about it!" Kenny interrupted "we're always worryin' about the ones we can't see - she stays aliv and brings them all out of their holes!"

Lee thought about it and glanced over again at the woman, she was desperately still trying to escape the ever growing number of walkers around her, she wouldn't escape. Kenny had a point, with her death she would help his group survive and she had already been bit, there was no saving her as much as he hated to do it.

One walker pulled her head back and took a bite of her neck and she screamed even louder and pushed it away from her, Lee lowered his gun and shook his head; he still didn't feel right about this. "Good, let's go- she'll keep 'em busy" Kenny said offering his hand to Lee again.

He pulled him up this time and Lee managed to make it to the top of the rig, they ignored the womans screams and went into the pharmacy through the alley door. Inside the drug store, it was unrecognisable as many people had raided it, including Lee's group and hardly anything was left now. "We should be good to clear this place out, but we ain't got all day!" Kenny said quickly as he started to grab what he could and stuff them in the bag "get everything you can out of these racks, don't forget underneath the counter this time! I'll clear out down here and then we gotta go!"

Following suit, Lee began to grab everything he could see and put them in his bag. The screams slowly died and Kenny glanced at him, "She's gone now, there ain't much time!"

Lee quickly scooped out everything from under the counter and stood up looking around, "I think that's everything!" he said to Kenny, the snarls and growls of the walkers getting louder and louder. They were getting closer.

Nodding, Kenny started heading for the door "That girl didn't die for nothin' then" he said. Ignoring the walkers at the door, he climbed over the counter and Lee followed him quickly, "we're still clear, let's hustle!"

Just as Lee walked past the door, it suddenly fell forward due to the walkers straining against it. Trapped underneath the door, Lee shouted out for Kenny as he pushed the door upwards and off of him. Kenny came running towards him and helped him push off the door, the walkers immediantly grabbed for them both and Lee scurried to his feet.

Backing away, Kenny took out his pistol and Lee pushed the fridge over the door and hit a walker on the head, smashing it's brain with the fridge. More walkers came crawling through other openings and Kenny began firing his gun "Quick! Let's fucking get out!" he shouted making for the hole in the wall.

Lee followed but halted in his steps when a walker dressed in an airforce uniform stumbled towards him, raising his gun, Lee smashed in it's head but the walker still came for him. Wrestling with it, he managed to push it back and it became impaled on a spike; snarling and grabbing for him.

"Let's go pal!" Kenny said quickly, climbing through their escape hole, knowing this would be the last time he would ever be in his parents now destroyed store, Lee glanced around one more time before following Kenny out into the street.

* * *

The motor inn was nothing like it was before, the wall was higher and covered in arrows after attacks from bandits, and the inn itself was deadly quiet. It wasn't safe here anymore. Alyssa was leaning on the balcony, keeping watch even though it was Ben who was on, she didn't want to sleep and have the nightmares like she did every night. Glancing around she noticed Lee and Kenny returning from Macon and headed down to greet them, she hoped it had been a lucky day for them.

She walked down and smiled weakly at them "Good trip?"

"We got a lot this time, emptied the shop practically" Lee said, he frowned at her once he seen the bags under her eyes "did you get any sleep at all?"

Alyssa averted her eyes and shook her head "I just ... couldn't."

Lee sighed, he wished he could help her, they walked towards Lilly's room where she spent nearly all her time now and he glanced at Clementine who was talking away on her walkie-talkie, Lee narrowed his eyes; she never used to be this attached to it before.

Looking up she seen them and ran over, smiling happily "You're back!" she said to Lee, "Ben found some stickers in a drawer and I put 'em on my walkie!"

Lee smiled down at her "Hey sweet pea, that's neat. I'll find you in a minute."

"Come on Clem, let's go do some drawing" Alyssa said taking her hand in hers, "catch you later Lee."

Clementine nodded and headed back with Alyssa while Lee followed Kenny to Lilly's room. Kenny knocked on the door and Lilly opened it up, looking withdrawn and tired as she usually did.

"Looks like we got the kid on watch again," Kenny observed.

Lilly ignored him and looked at Lee, "What'd you get?"

Lee handed over the gun to her while Kenny shook his head "We might as well leave a sign out that says ' the men are gone, come rape our women and children'."

Lilly ignored him again and walked over to the dresser and placed the gun down, "So what did you get?" she asked again annoyed.

"A lot of stuff" Lee said simply.

Kenny handed over the two bags and Lilly put them down on the bed and began to look through them, not saying anything. "We're fine by the way..." Kenny rolled his eyes.

She nodded "Nice work," she straightened up "this will keep us going. If we carry on like this, we'll get through the winter here."

"The winter?" Kenny repeated angryily "we'll freeze our asses off here!"

Lilly raised an eyebrow "Because piling into an RV with you two, after what you did to my dad, is SO appealing" she said quietly but with a little bitterness in her voice.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Kenny asked "I'll do anything to keep everyone safe!"

"We're already safe!" Lilly snapped.

"Take a look at the wall Lilly, that's not graffiti, those are bullet holes. And we got enough arrow shafts to dry our laundry!" Kenny snapped back "and that's besides the fact that Macon is busting at the seams with walkers!"

Lee nodded "We have to go eventually, Lilly" he said calmly.

"We don't have to do anything" she said back quietly.

Kenny took a step towards her "You didn't want to go because of your dad's health but he's gone now."

"Easy Kenny" Lee intervened sensing an arguement starting.

"At it again are we?" Carley asked sarcastically as she and Katjaa joined them at the door.

Kenny rolled his eyes; he wasn't in the mood "Can it Carley" he muttered.

"Don't boss people around" Lilly said with a hint of anger in her voice.

"I'm sorry, but someone needs to make executive decisions for the group, and I don't think you're capable anymore-"

"Don't start with me either" Lilly said dangerously.

"Ken, we're all losing it, with the attacks and lack of food" Katjaa reminded him.

Lee shook his head "Everything can't come down to the same disagreement" he said "Lilly, Kenny's got some legit points here."

Lilly sighed and looked down "I'm sick and tired of it being you two versus me."

"Dammit, I'm not on anyones side Lilly, these decisions affect everyone" Lee said heatedly.

"What about the food situation? What about protection?" Kenny suddenly questioned her, "what about when this place falls? Somebody's gotta be thinking about this shit!"

"How is this not been working?" Lilly asked tiredly "we have everything we need-"

"Because of me Lilly!"

"That's B.S Kenny and you know it."

"What about medicine?" he asked her.

"What about the medicine?"

Getting sick of their arguing, Lee intervened. "We deal with shit as it comes, just like we always do."

"And when fifteen bandits hop over that wall in the middle of the night?" Kenny asked sarcastically "what then? You just gonna deal with that?"

"Everything that happens to us is another exscuse for you to pull this crap about leaving" Lilly said sounding fed up "all I was is a week of peace; of not hearing it!"

Kenny narrowed his eyes at her "Do you know how we got these supplies?" Lilly didn't answer him "we got lucky and let a girl get eaten out there."

"What..?" Katjaa whispered, horrified at what her husband just said.

"Some girl came screaming out of an alley, she had dead hanging all over her" Kenny explained "she gave us enough time to get everything we could out of the drugstore."

"You just let her suffer? Like what ... bait?" Lilly asked Lee disgusted.

"We got what we needed" Lee said slowly "it was just ... something that had to happen."

"Lee's right!" Kenny said "we've been putting our lives on the line doing these runs into the city. You wouldn't belive the shit we see."

"We all appreciate it Ken-" Katjaa said trying to calm him down.

Kenny ignored her, "You should be thanking Lee for not shooting that girl."

"It's not so easy for him" Lilly said bluntly, looking at Lee.

Kenny had had enough "Look, Macon and it's people aren't savable. It's not a town. It's full of walkers and the people who WERE left are dying and wandering out into the streets" he met her eyes "it's hell on earth and it's coming this way."

"IT'S NOT GOING TO BE EASIER OUT ON THE ROAD!" Lilly suddenly shouted in frustration, turning away from them as she lost it a little.

"How would you know?" Kenny asked

Alyssa had appeared beside Carley after hearing the shouting and raised an eyebrow, "When was the last time you went past the wall Lilly?"

"What I know!" Lilly snarled "I know you're not above murder! I know somebody has been stealingour supplies - that's right - STEALING! And I know the list of people I can trust here gets SMALLER EVERYDAY!" she turned her back on them "now everybody GET OUT!"


	20. Long Road Ahead: Chapter Two

After making sure the door was closed properly, Lee sighed "She'll get over it" he said looking at the group.

"She's riling everybody up, otherwise" Kenny nodded.

Katjaa sighed and looked up at him, "You understand, Ken."

Kenny nodded slowly "She's right about one thing," he said sadly "none of this is gettin' any easier." He shook his head and walked away from them muttering to himself, Katjaa glanced back at them all before following Kenny.

Alyssa frowned to herself "I'm gonna go talk to Lilly," she said to Lee, "I wanna know more about these supplies going missing. She wouldn't lie about that, she's the Rations Nazi."

Lee nodded at her and watched as she slipped into Lilly's room closing the door behind her as she did. "Oof, things are coming to a head" Carley sighed next to him.

"You could say that" Lee muttered rubbing his head, all this arguing was taking a toll on him.

Carley glanced at him quickly, "Well, I think you did good today. And I find myself thinking that most days."

Lee smiled at her genuinely "Thanks."

"Alyssa's right to follow up with Lilly about what she was saying about missing supplies," Carley said while tenderly rubbing away a spot of dirt on Lee's face, "with her wound up the way she is, I don't want to see her paranoid."

"No question."

Carley smiled at him "And I'd like to talk, when you've got a minute" she said quietly. Lee nodded and watched her walk away up the stairs, glancing back at him, she smiled again and he returned it with one of his own.

He walked over to Clementine, who was sitting rubbing a pencil over a bit of paper. Kneeling down he smiled "Hey Clementine."

"Hey Lee," she said happily "where's Alyssa?"

"She's just having a talk with Lilly, she won't be long" Lee said, hoping it was true "what's that you're working on, Clem?"

"It's a leaf rubbing" she explained, "my teacher Miss Moore showed us how to do 'em when we went to the Botanical Garden once" she held up the leaf and the bit of paper and Lee could see the leaf print "see? It's the same! Uhm, kind of."

"That's really something" Lee nodded sounding impressed.

Clementine looked proud of herself "I'll make one for you too!"

Lee looked around and closed his eyes, Clementine shouldn't be in a place like this; none of them should. "Do you like it here?" he asked her seriously.

"I don't LIKE it here," she replied putting an emphasis on the word 'like'.

"Do you wanna leave?"

"Where are we going?" she questioned him, sounding a little confused.

Lee shook his head "Somewhere else."

Clementine thought it over before she shrugged "I don't know. Mabye if I knew where."

"Yeah, that'd be a good thing to know" he smiled at her "I'll talk to you later,Clem."

* * *

Alyssa entered the room and seen Lilly sitting with her head in her hands, she looked up when Alyssa closed the door and looked away "I'm sorry."

She didn't know if it was because they both lost someone close to them in a horrible way at the dairy, but there was certainly an understanding between them both and since then Alyssa found Lilly to be a little less aggressive with her.

"You don't have to apologize," Alyssa said quietly sitting down on the chair opposite the bed.

Lilly sighed "Did you come in here to give me hell or to coddle me?"

"I wanted to follow up on what you said about stolen supplies" Alyssa told her, "I know you wouldn't lie about that."

"Do you know what's going on?" she asked the younger girl.

Alyssa shook her head "I don't, I just heard you mention it."

"And you came in here to confess?" Lilly accused her suspiciously.

"I'm stealing sweet-f-all," Alyssa said angryily "I came in here to help."

Lilly was quiet but then she looked at Alyssa seriously "There's a traitor, somebody, one of us, out there. He or she or they have been taking things."

Alyssa knew Lilly was suffering more than her at the loss of her dad, but she knew what sleep deprivation could do to you, especially in this world they lived in now. "You haven't really been sleeping-"

"Don't start in on that" Lilly snapped.

"You've been through a trauma, Lilly, we all have, but you're not taking care of yourself."

Lilly ignored her "The count's off and it's the good stuff. Antibiotics, oxy, fuck, anything with opium in it."

"Lee and I see the count, and it's fine."

"I keep my own. That one's getting messed with" Lilly gave her a tired look "I'm a fucking mess right now but I'm not stupid. I know what happens if I start a witch hunt."

"So what? You want me to start one?" Alyssa asked raising an eyebrow.

"I want you to poke around."

Alyssa sighed and rubbed her head, "What's there to go on?"

Lilly reached underneath her bed and brought out a flashlight, "I found this tossed into the garbage," she said passing it over to Alyssa, who could see the glass at the front was all broken, "we don't toss out equipment, we fix it. You'd only try to get rid of a flashlight if you were using it when you shouldn't."

Alyssa had to agree this was strange; everyone knew not to throw away equipment, "Okay, I'll poke around. See what I can find out" she said to Lilly.

"Thank you," Lilly then narrowed her eyes at Alyssa, "if you don't find anything, I'm just going to assume it's you."

* * *

Lee climbed the stairs and walked slowly along to Carley who was leaning on her hands, "Alyssa finished talking to Lilly yet?" she asked without looking to see who it was.

"No not yet."

Carley was quiet and then she spoke, "What I wanted to say was, I've been thinking a lot" she straightened up and glanced at Lee, "about you."

"I think about you too" Lee said meeting her eyes.

Carley held his gaze and there was a flicker of a smile on her face before she shrugged "Our group is small" she said.

"You're small" Lee said with a smile on his face.

Carley snorted but then grew serious and looked around before sighing "You're a convicted killer."

The moment passed and Lee shook his head "Carley, Jesus ..."

"And I think people should know," she raised an eyebrow at him "not because they deserve to and not because you're a bad man," her voice softened "I think the opposite of those two things."

Lee still looked unsure and Carley stepped closer to him, looking determined "People need to know because we're hanging by a thread here and I can't see Lilly talk about you without thinking it's the next thing she's going to say" Lee looked down in thought and Carley could see she was getting through to him "you don't have to tell everyone but think about who you trust and take the oppertunity while you have it."

Lee nodded and looked at her "You're probably right" he sighed.

"Of course I'm probably right" Carley said teasingly, then grew serious again "people might be pissed. And telling them might cause some trouble but it will be a far cry from what'll happen if they don't hear it from you."

"Yeah," Lee said looking down at the group "it could turn bad if they don't hear it from me."

"So you'll do it then?" Carley asked him.

Lee smiled "I'll let people know, you're totally right."

"Good, I think it's for the best," Carley smiled at him and stepped forward, and kissed his cheek softly, it was just a peck but Lee couldn't help but close his eyes when her lips met his cheek. She pulled back a little and whispered in his ear "Don't call me small."

* * *

Closing the door shut behind her, Alyssa sighed, this is why she should stay out of things, if she didn't find anything Lilly was just going to assume she was the thief. That was added stress she didn't need.

"A mystery!"

Alyssa jumped and seen Duck stand beside her and she cursed inwardly, he must've been listening at the door. "Jesus, Duck!" she frowned, folding her arms.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly, "I heard you guys talking."

"You need to un-hear all of that!" Alyssa snapped, she began walking away but Duck grabbed her hand and pulled on it.

"Can I help?"

"What did I just say?" she said annoyed, turning to look at him.

Duck grinned excitedly "You're the greatest detective and I can be Dick Grayson! Your ward!" when Alyssa never replied, he rolled his eyes "that's Robin."

"I know who it is," she said irritably, then she shook her head "okay, you're Robin."

Duck puffed out his chest "YES!" then he stopped and gave her a confused look "what do I do?"

Alyssa sighed "I don't know, go look around. Let me know if you find anything weird."

"I'm on the case!"

Shaking her head again, Alyssa looked down at the broken flashlight in her hand and wondered who had done this. She'd have to ask around.

Looking up, she seen Lee and Carley talking about something and noticed how close they were standing. She swallowed sadly, she would give anything to have Mark back right now. They didn't have long together but she had fallen hard and the way she had lost him ...

Shaking her head, she wiped her eyes quickly and headed over to Katjaa and Kenny after seeing Lee, start to climb down the stairs, she didn't want him worrying over her.


	21. Long Road Ahead: Chapter Three

"Hey you two," Alyssa said walking up to Kenny and Katjaa, "how are you doing?"

"We're okay" Katjaa said quickly, avoiding Kenny's eyes.

Kenny rolled his eyes and looked up at Alyssa, "Just having a little spat."

Katjaa glanced annoyed at him and then looked down at his pistol lying beside him, "We all carry guns now and, well, I don't like it."

"It's the way it's gotta be" Kenny said heatedly.

"I know, but I'm not getting used to it" Katjaa sighed "I'm sorry, how are you Alyssa?"

"Good, I just wanted to ask if you guys knew anything about this broken flashlight?"

Kenny sighed when he seen it, "Fuck, we don't got many of those."

"Yeah it's a problem," Alyssa said nodding "the glass and the bulb are all shattered."

"I saw some broken glass over by the ice machine, I meant to clean it up before the kids hurt themselves on it; I forgot though" Katjaa told her.

Alyssa nodded and walked over, she noticed what Katjaa said was true, on the ground was shattered glass and she frowned. This wasn't here yesterday.

Bending down, Alyssa carefully picked up a large shard of glass and held it against the flashlight, it fitted perfectly and she knew this is where it was broken. Standing up, she looked around frowning, what was here that could be so bad; someone didn't report a broken flashlight incase it got found out.

Glancing around the corner, Alyssa seen a large 'X' drawn on the wall, her frown deepened, Lilly was right, there was a traitor in the group. Reaching out, she rubbed the 'X' "Hmm, chalk" she said to herself quietly.

"Pink, hmmm."

Alyssa folded her arms and shook her head "Duck!"

"A clue!"

"Mabye."

Duck looked up at the wall and gave it a scrutinising look "What do you think it is?" he asked her.

"I don't think it's anything," Alyssa said, leading him away from the wall.

Duck looked up at her with raised eyebrows, "Mabye it's a sign!"

Alyssa stopped and thought hard about it; it could be a sign, that something was ready, the missing supplies. "It could be. It's pink chalk, which is weird."

Duck nodded "Okay, back to investigating!" and he ran off to search for more 'clues' but Alyssa felt uneasy, she didn't know what it was, but she couldn't help but feel something bad was going to happen.

Glancing down, her brain clicked when she seen Clementine's drawings on the ground .. with pink chalk. She looked up and seen her drawing more at the wooden board she was using as a table.

Mabye she knew who took the chalk?

* * *

Lee glanced down at Clementine, she knew the half truth about his past and today she was going to learn the whole truth. It didn't look like her parents were going to be coming back and he wanted to be honest with her if they were going to be in a group from now on.

"Clem, I need to talk to you for a second" he said kneeling down to her level.

"Okey dokey" she said, putting down her pencil and giving him her full attention.

Taking a deep breath, Lee met the young girl's eyes "Before I met you, and before the plague ... I killed somebody."

"Oh .." her face fell "so that's what ..."

"Yeah, that's it" Lee said nodding, knowing what she was going to say "it was a bad thing and there's no explaning it."

She frowned a little "Why are you telling me?" she asked slowly.

"Because I didn't want to keep it to myself anymore" he seen her look down, deep in thought "do you have any questions?" she shook her head and Lee sighed; obviously she was going to need time to digest this information. "You can go on back to your things."

He stood up and walked over to Kenny and Katjaa "Everything okay?"

"Kenny, you got a second?" Lee asked, as he stood in front of Kenny "I need to tell you something."

"Sure pal," Kenny nodded standing up, "what d'ya got?" Lee glanced up at Carley who nodded slightly at him and he walked over out of Katjaa's earshot and sighed.

"It's serious" he said to Kenny quietly.

Kenny shook his head "Oh no, what'd the she-devil do to you..."

"Shut up man," Lee rolled his eyes but grew serious "I killed someone. Different than Larry or the St. Johns. Different from everything. This was before the walkers."

Kenny frowned and Lee rubbed the back of his neck "I know, I didn't say anything when I met you because I was with the girl and, you know, I was worried ..." Lee explained quickly.

"I just smashed a guy's head in with a fifty pound block of salt. You saw me do that right?" Kenny said slowly.

Lee folded his arms "Yeah, I did."

"And you're talking about who we were? The fuck does that matter?" Kenny raised an eyebrow "It's everything this mess has got us doin' now, Lee. Shit," he stopped and looked him in the eye "look, is Duck safe around you?"

"Of course!"

"Then shut it," Kenny gave him a half smile "you don't owe anybody any kinda explanation."

* * *

"Hey, Clem, can I ask you something?" Alyssa said, crouching down next to the smaller girl.

She nodded without taking her eyes off of her drawing, "Sure, what is it?"

"You wouldn't have any pink chalk, now would you?" she asked carefully.

"No, it's gone somewhere" Clementine stopped and gave her an annoyed look "I woke up one day and it was missing" she smiled "do you want blue?"

"No, no, it's okay" Alyssa stood up straight and sighed, she wasn't getting answers instead she got more questions which was more infuriating.

"Psst, Alyssa!"

Alyssa looked up and seen Duck waving her over to the RV, Clementine raised an eyebrow "What's wrong with Duck?" she asked.

"I'm gonna go find out, catch you later kiddo" Alyssa smiled and got up to see what Duck wanted.

Duck waited till she was close before glancing around and going in his pocket, "I found something," he said.

"What is it?"

Duck went into his pocket and brought out Clementine's missing piece of chalk, "I found this piece of pink chalk and a scuff of it over by the gate."

"Really?" Alyssa frowned, what would it be doing over by the gate.

"Totally!" Duck nodded "I was combing the scene for clues and-"

"Yeah Duck, I got it," Alyssa said walking over to the gates, not wanting to hear his long version "good job, Robin."

He ran in front of her as she reached the gate and held up his hand, looking at her eagerly, rolling her eyes she gave him a high five and he beamed at her. Alyssa glanced down and saw the scuff that Duck had told her about and felt her heart beat a little faster, something was going on. She pushed against the gate and saw the scuff went even further. "Someone was over here too," she whispered to herself.

"See, I did good huh?" Duck said happily.

"Yeah Duck, you did amazingly good," Alyssa smiled "you'd make a good detective."

* * *

"Hey Ben."

Ben nodded down at him "What's up Lee?"

Lee sighed, this wasn't getting easier with each person he was telling. "I need to tell you something."

"Sure Lee," then Ben looked worried "is it about my watch? I'm trying to do a good job."

"You're doing fine," Lee assured him, "I'm a ... convicted murderer."

His eyes widened and he looked surprised, "Woah, seriously?"

Lee rolled his eyes "Why would I joke about that?" he asked.

"I dunno," Ben said quickly, then he shook his head "uh ... wow."

"You're a part of this group," Lee said firmly "and you should know."

Ben looked thoughtful "I've never met a murderer before. Well, I hadn't I mean."

Lee sighed "I know what you meant."

Ben smiled down at him "Thanks for trusting me man, I ... uh .. I..." he trailed off nervously, not sure what to say.

"Ben, relax" Lee rolled his eyes and noticed Katjaa standing up from the couch and head to her and Kenny's room "I'll talk to you later."

Lee walked over and managed to catch Katjaa just before she opened the door. "Can I talk to you about something?"

She nodded and gave him a worried look "Sure. Is everything okay?"

"I was on my way to prison three months ago," Lee said slowly "you've always looked at me with kind eyes and I wonder if you would still do that if you knew I was a convicted felon."

Katjaa's eyes widened "My goodness, for what? How much trouble can a teacher get into?"

"Well, plenty," Lee said folding his arms "but it had nothing to do with that ... it was for murder."

"Why?"

"He and my wife were ... uh-"

"That's enough," Katjaa interrupted him, she looked down and swallowed hard "tell me what happened when you were locked in the fridge. At the dairy."

Lee hesitated but he told her, "I held Lilly back and Kenny ... made sure Larry didn't get up."

Katjaa looked stunned at the news "What did he do?" she asked quietly.

"He smashed his head in," Lee said sadly.

Katjaa inhaled sharply and covered her mouth, she looked close to tears.

"Katjaa..." Lee said softly

She let out a shaky breath "Everything keeps changing." Saying nothing else, she went into her room and quietly closed the door behind her. Lee felt terrible for telling her and wished he kept his mouth shut, but they couldn't have secrets in the group, especially now.

He looked up and noticed Alyssa and Duck over by the gates and he walked over quickly when he seen Alyssa start to edge out beyond the gate. "Hey, where you goin'?" he asked catching up with her.

"Duck, go play, it's too dangerous out here for you" Alyssa said, sliding past the gate.

"It's too dangerous for you too!" Lee pointed out, as Duck walked past him, "and you've already went out on your own, you're not doing it again."

Alyssa bit her lip, the last time she had went back to the dairy to find Mark, just the thought of him dragging himself about eating people made her feel sick but he wasn't there. A reanimated Brenda and Andy were and Alyssa had gladly finished them with the axe just as Lee and Kenny had appeared to bring her back.

Just knowing he was still out there as one of them, made her heart ache and she shook her head. "Lilly isn't paranoid," Alyssa stopped and gave Lee a serious look, "she found a broken flashlight in the garbage and I found a sign on the side of the motor-inn, an 'x' in pink chalk. Duck found a scuff of it here so it means whoever has been stealing supplies has been out there."

"Well, you're not going out alone," Lee started to shimmy alongside the gate and Alyssa smiled at him weakly "I'll watch your back."

"So what were you and Carley talking about?" Alyssa asked him as they walked up the pavement together, "you looked cosy."

Lee ignored her tease and scanned the treeline, "She wanted me to tell people about my past."

"About you being a murderer?" Alyssa raised an eyebrow "it's been months since we all met, why should it matter now?"

"Larry knew, which means Lilly probably does and we're not friendly at the moment" Lee sighed "at least if everyone knows, she can't use it to turn the group against me."

"As if that would happen," Alyssa said softly "you're the heart of this group, there would BE no group without you. If it came down to it, I would choose you in a heartbeat over her."

Lee smiled at her "That's good to know."

"So who did you tell?"

"Everyone apart from Lilly ... including Clementine."

Alyssa was quiet "How did she take it?" she asked slowly.

"Well, I don't think she's scared of me or hates me for it," Lee said sadly "but I hated telling her it, made me feel like the bad guy."

"She doesn't hate you," Alyssa shook her head "she thinks the world of you, we both do."

Lee was about to answer, when he spotted a small bag in the grate. Frowning, he bent down and pulled off the grating and picked up the bag. "What's that?" Alyssa asked, standing beside him.

Opening the bag, Lee saw it was full of supplies that Lilly had said were missing. "Son of a bitch..." he muttered.

Alyssa sighed "Who would be doing this?" she asked him, looking a little worried.

Lee shook his head "I don't know, but we're gonna find out."


	22. Long Road Ahead: Chapter Four

Lilly looked up as Alyssa and Lee walked into her room and she gave them a wary look, "You haven't came up with anything, have you?" she said tiredly.

"We came up with this," Lee said angryily, handing her the bag from the grate "it's got a bunch of meds in it. It was in a grate on the outside wall and Alyssa found a sign on the other one."

"Which means someone's made a deal with the bandits and is stealing supplies to keep it going" Alyssa sighed sitting down in the chair.

"Holy fuck" Lilly whispered, looking up from the bag, "okay, we line everybody up. Everybody" she shook her head angryily at Lee who looked doubtful "somebody is killing us, Lee. Stealing from that supply is the same as slipping into your room at night and cutting your throat while you sleep. You die. What is the difference?" she bit her lip "What if Clementine or Alyssa gets sick and we don't have what we need-" she broke off and frowned out the window before her eyes widened "what the hell?!"

Alyssa glanced out the window and her heart stopped when she seen masked men taking everyone hostage, "YOU DON'T FUCKIN' STEAL FROM US!" One shouted angryily.

"Who the fuck is that?" Lee asked fearfully "they've got our people out there!"

"WE AIN'T FUCKING AROUND!"

Alyssa watched as they forced Carley to her knees with her hands behind her head next to the others and she shook her head, "Oh fuck, what do we do?"

"Oh shit!" Lilly cursed and ran over to the dresser and picked up the rifle "they're gonna start kicking in doors any second!"

"Lilly?" Lee frowned as she ran to the other window and opened it quickly "What the hell are you-"

"Stall them!"

"What?" Alyssa raised her eyebrows, "stall those guys?"

Lilly climbed out the window and glanced back at them "Just keep them talking, do whatever it takes to stop him pulling the trigger!"

Lee shook his head as she disappeared and Alyssa looked out the window again, "Lee, they have Clem," she said scared "how can we stall mad men?"

"YOU MADE THE BIGGEST MISTAKE IN YOUR LIVES!"

"You stay here, and keep yourself safe with this," Lee finally said, handing her his gun "I'll go out and talk to him."

"I can't let you-"

"If something happens to me, Clementine's gonna need you to take care of her," Lee said quickly, "now do what I say!"

Lee walked out and Alyssa carefully took her position by the window and held her breath as she watched the leader start to pace about, "Enough of this bullshit! Drew, start putting your boot to these doors!" he looked up and saw Lee approaching with his hands up "hold it, asshole!"

"Take it easy," Lee said calmly, "we have more supplies. We can keep the deal going."

"Too late shithead!" the man snarled "we ain't giving second chances!"

Alyssa seen Lilly appear on the balcony, with the rifle in her hands, sneaking over she took aim at the bandit beside the one who was speaking and held her breath; if shit hit the fan, she'd be ready.

"It was a mix-up!" Lee said desperately "we'll make it worth your while!"

"I'm listenin'!"

"What will it take to reach a deal?"

"Bout twice as much as you been givin' us!" the leader snapped, still aiming his gun at Lee's head.

"You got it, done!"

The bandit lowered his gun and looked at Lee, "Is that so?" he paused "well ... I suppose we oughta hash out some terms, then."

Another bearded bandit with dark glasses turnd to him "I don't like hash."

"Shut up or I'll-"

There was two gunshots and the leader and the bearded bandit fell dead as two seperate bullets hit them in the head, everyone ran quickly to take cover in the confusion and thinking fast, Carley grabbed the dropped gun and quickly shot two bandits before her gun clicked out.

Running forward Alyssa, took aim as the remaining bandit tried to make a run for it but only managed to shoot him in the ass, she heard him whistle and more bandits came streaming from the forest and she took cover behind the RV with Lee.

There was shouting and gunfire as they became under attack, "Get back there! Smoke him out!" one shouted, Ben tried to make a run for it to the RV but there was a gunshot and the window behind him shattered as the bullet hit it and he dove behind the wooden planks and barrel for cover.

Kenny came running out with his rifle, "We gotta get out of here!" he shouted.

"No shit!" Alyssa cried out.

Kenny handled Lee the rifle "Get those basterds! Cover our people and get them to the RV!" he said quickly, jumping inside the RV.

"Get in there, and be my eyes," Lee told Alyssa, "cover me with the pistol if you have too!"

"I'm on it!"

Glancing around the side of the RV, Lee raised the rifle and fired a shot at the bandits behind the gate, he hit one in the head and the other tried to sneak past to get nearer but he reloaded quickly and fired, hitting the bandit in the neck and he fell to the ground. "Now!" Lee shouted to Carley and Ben "Get over here! Hurry!"

"Man, you saved our asses!" Ben said scared, jumping into the RV.

"BEHIND THE RV!"

The gate got pushed open and Alyssa saw them coming in and with her heart in her mouth, saw Katjaa, Duck and Clementine all cowering behind bins and wooden boards. "Help!" Katjaa called out.

She got up from the table and loaded the gun quickly, "More coming on this side and Kat and the kids are trapped!" she explained to Lee looking terrified, "and we got walkers invading too!"

"I'll cover Kat and the kids,you handle the other side!"

They heard yells and snarls coming from the gate and both of them took positions at the either side of the RV. Firing, Lee managed to stop two bandits from sneaking up behind him and just dodged a bullet aimed at him. Standing quickly he fired and caught the man in the chest and he fell down, glancing around he saw a chance and waved at the trapped members of his group.

"Katjaa come on!" he shouted.

Clementine raced over looking petrified, "Lee!" she called out and he pulled her into a hug.

"Clem, get inside the RV!" he demanded "it's gonna be okay, go!"

But when he glanced up, he saw a walker grab at Katjaa and she fell to the ground as did Duck, growling, it fell to it's knees and went to feed on them, raising the rifle, Lee shot at it's head as Katjaa held it back from Duck.

"KAT!" Kenny yelled, running out the RV and towards his wife, "Oh Christ!"

Katjaa pushed the walker off of her and frantically helped Duck to his feet, who was frozen in shock and made for the RV, Lee sighed, at least no one had been killed during the attack.

Alyssa saw walkers come through the gate and she fired at their heads, managing to hit some but there was too many and she was running low on ammo. "Lilly!" she shouted, she was still on the balcony shooting at walkers and bandits, "get in the RV!"

"Screw her!" Kenny shouted as he pushed Katjaa and Duck into the RV, "let her stay!"

"Shit!" Alyssa shot a walker that had came out from the stairs, "Carley, we need help!"

Carley came from inside the RV with her gun and went to Alyssa's side, "Lee theres more and more walkers coming, Kenny's trying to get the RV to start, we need to cover him!" she said "you get that side, we'll handle this one!"

Lee knew that all the shouting and gunfire had attracted every walker from the forest, and he also knew that there was a lot of them, just as his gun clicked empty, he heard the RV roar into life and breathed out in relief. "Get in!" he shouted to Alyssa and Carley who did as he said, glancing up he saw Lilly still trying to defend the motor-inn "Lilly! Last chance! Get down here!"

He saw her look around one last time desperately before running down the stairs and jumping into the RV, Lee slammed the door shut and sat next to Clementine on the couch, holding her close, "Everybody hang on!" Kenny shouted, as he slammed his foot on the accelerator and drove the RV over a walker through the make shift gate, bullets hit off the side as Lee heard the surviving bandits shout after them.

He sighed and hugged Clementine close, they were safe ... for now.

* * *

"Fuck, that was close!" Alyssa breathed out shakily as the RV raced along the road.

Ben sat beside her with his head in his hands, "Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit!" he kept muttering over and over, he glanced up at Lilly and looked terrified, "I'm sorry."

"Everything's fine, Ben" Alyssa said trying to comfort him.

"Everything's not fine!" Lilly snapped "we need to figure out how this happened!" she paused "we just lost everything."

"Well, we're lucky as shit to have this RV!" Kenny said from the drivers seat.

"And nobody died!" Carley pointed out.

"Kat's head is split open!" Kenny growled.

Katjaa, still holding Duck close to her in the passenger seat, shook her head "I'm fine!" she said.

"Somebody in here caused this" Lilly said bitterly.

Kenny sighed "Settle down back there; the bandits have had our number for weeks!"

"This is different," Lilly argued "somebody was working with them. Whoever it was was slipping them our meds. They didn't get their last package so they attacked!"

"Calm down back there!" Kenny snappd "That's nuts!"

Lilly looked at Lee "Lee found a bag of supplies hidden outside the wall" she told them all, and suddenly all eyes were on him.

"It's true" he said quietly.

"So, Carley. Is there something you want to say?" Lilly asked in a dangerous tone, frowning at the other woman.

"Please."

"We have to get it out of you then."

"Back off!"

"Don't you dare start on Carley, she wouldn't do this!" Alyssa said annoyed.

Lilly looked at both of them "You two are in no position to make demands!"

"Woah, woah, woah. You're just pointing fingers!" Carley glared at her.

"I've had my suspicions" Lilly snarled.

"Probably not the best time Lilly!" Kenny pointed out from the front, "considering what just happened."

"If not now, when?" Lilly spat "this needs to get sorted out NOW!"

Lee shook his head at her "Carley's trustworthy, she's not a traitor Lilly."

"Thank you Lee" Carley gave him a grateful look for sticking up for her.

Lilly looked disgusted with Lee for intervening but there was something else in her eyes, "She can fight her own battles, unless something going on here that implicates you both."

"Don't be ridiculus!" Carley retorted sounding pissed off.

"You're not in charge of the group Lilly!" Alyssa snarled "stop being like this!"

"Like, look, mabye we should, uh- vote or something like that?" Ben said desperately, looking uncomfortable being stuck between the arguing females.

"Vote?" Lilly narrowed her eyes at him "What?"

Lee sighed tiredly, it wasn't worth it. What's done is done and even knowing who struck the deal with the bandits wouldn't make everything okay; they had to focus on their next move and how they were going to survive. "Let's just let it go" he said loudly "people make mistakes and yeah, this is a fucking doozy but it's not worth it Lilly."

"Then what do we NOT forgive!" There was a manic gleam in Lilly's eyes and she seemed to be on breaking point "Honestly, tell me? Kenny can kill my dad; Carley can steal from us? Where's the line?"

"Nobody was stealing ANYTHING!" Ben cried out.

"Was it both of you?" Lilly bent down, her eyes fixed on Ben who looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights, "I've seen you two together. Was it both of you?"

"Look, just let me out. I didn't do it, but I don't like this," Ben said beginning to panic "I don't like where this is headed!"

Lilly didn't buy it and instead leaned in closer to him, "Look me in the eyes and tell me you didn't have anything to do with it."

Carley shot Lilly a glare "Lilly, lay off of him!"

Ben shook as he looked up to Lilly "I-"


	23. Long Road Ahead: Chapter Five

There was a bang and the RV swerved a little to the side. "Oh shit!" Kenny cursed loudly, trying to get back into the middle of the road.

"What's going on up there?" Lilly asked, looking away from Ben.

"I hit something," Kenny said, glancing back at the group "we gotta stop!"

"All right," Lilly looked at Ben "well, we can deal with this now, then."

The RV slowed down, and Kenny parked it on the side of the road. "Kenny, is it safe?" Lee asked, standing up.

"Should be."

"Everybody OUT!" Lilly snapped, opening the door.

Lee met her eyes "Lilly-"

"Out!" she repeated and walked out of the door, Lee sighed and glanced at the others giving them a nod, Carley, Alyssa and Ben followed Lilly out but he stopped Clementine from following.

"You stay in here sweet pea, make sure Katjaa and Duck stay safe okay?" he said.

Clementine nodded and sat back down, "No one's going to die are they?" she asked worriedly.

"I won't let that happen," he promised her "we just need to talk outside for a moment."

She nodded and Lee joined the others outside, Lilly was looking at the RV for damage and he shared a worried look with Carley. There was a low moaning coming from the car and Lilly bent down, "Kenny, there's some surface damage but there's a walker trapped underneath."

Kenny bent down at the front of the RV and swore, "God dammit, everyone keep your eyes peeled."

Lilly walked back and glared at Carley and Ben, "You know what? We shouldn't just kick you out, we should hear what everybody thinks."

"I think you should chill out!" Ben said shaking his head.

Alyssa nodded "Who cares anymore?" she said "we just need to keep moving and find somewhere safe, and not try to cause more damage to the group. We've already lost people and we can't lose anymore."

"I'm not gonna take this!" Carley snapped sounding angry "you can push Ben around but you can't push me around!"

"I'm really sorry you feel that way," Lilly said dangerously "I'm starting to think that it was the both of you."

"No!" Ben shouted.

"Damn, this dumb fuckin' walker!" Kenny cursed from the front, unable to get it out.

"You okay over there?" Alyssa asked him.

"Yeah, yeah, .. son of a bitch."

"Just tell me it was Carley and this can be-"

"I'm not doing this!" Lee interrupted Lilly angryily, she shot him a death glare but he didn't back down.

"Neither am I!" Alyssa said.

"Come on, you two were the ones who found them!" Lilly said furiously "you can't just abstain!"

"Watch me!" Alyssa snapped.

"Fuck all of that; this is nuts!" Lee said shaking his head "we're out here on the side of the road!"

"Okay, fine then," Lilly rolled her eyes, "Kenny?"

"I don't know," Kenny said raising an eyebrow as he looked around the RV, "fuck! Just, stop, would ya?"

"Well your cote counts for you and Katjaa" Lilly said irritatably.

"We don't need all these VOTES!" Ben was beginning to sound hysterical now "What do I have to do for you to TRUST me? I'll do ANYTHING! I'll do watches for a month!" he added desperately.

Lilly didn't look impressed and folded her arms, "The hell you will."

"I-I-I'll get more food! More medicine! Anything, just-"

"You think any of that is good now!" Lilly shouted.

Ben looked close to tears "Just let me stay, please!"

"You're pathetic," Lilly's lip curled as she shook her head at Ben, who hung his in shame, "Look at you."

"He's broken Lilly!" Lee snapped, stepping between them both, "leave him alone."

"I can see that" she replied rolling her eyes "do we need any more evidence than this?"

"Fuck EVIDENCE!" Carley snarled suddenly, "stop treating him like this!"

"Shut up Carley!" Lilly growled "I've heard enough out of you! Kenny! What's it gonna be?"

"Just give me a damn minute!" Kenny said, still trying to get the trapped walker out from under the RV.

Lilly drew herself up and glared again at the younger boy "Ben, you have until that walker is dealt with to tell me it was her and not you!"

"Stop this!" Alyssa said angryily, stepping in front of Ben "you're torturing him!"

"ENOUGH!" Carley growled at her.

"This is about trust, and I've never trusted either of you-"

"Lilly, lay off!" Lee hissed.

"I can't Lee," she said shaking her head "you know I can't."

"Thank you Lee," Carley said again, "Please, listen to him!"

"Please don't kick me out of the group!" Ben whimpered.

"You're not going anywhere," Alyssa said soothingly "just ignore Lilly-"

"Tell me. NOW!" Lilly barked at Ben.

There was a squelching noise as the walker that was trapped, broke in half and Kenny dragged it out, "There! I got 'im!" he said tiredly.

"Look, let's just get back in the RV-" Alyssa began to say.

"That's not happening!" Lilly snarled.

Carley gave Lilly a disgusted look "You think you're some tough bitch, don't you? Like nothing can hurt you but you're just a scared little girl. Get the fuck over it! Take a page from Lee's book and try helping somebody for once." Lilly glared and kept her eyes on Carley even when she looked away, a dangerous glint in her eyes to join the manic one.

Kenny stamped hard on the walkers head, finishing it off and then sighed as he walked over to join the others, "Now, what the fuck's the problem-"

There was a single gunshot and Carley fell to the ground, blood oozing from the hole in her face from the bullet. Lee felt himself freeze as he watched her body fall and he turned to see Lilly with an expressionless face looking down at Carley's corpse with her gun still pointed out.

Feeling the anger surge through him, he grabbed her hand and slammed her against the side of the RV, "DROP IT!" he snarled at her angry.

Doing as she was told, she shook a little and dropped the gun out of her hand. Alyssa let out a cry as she covered her mouth, still not believing what had just happened. "Holy fuck!" Kenny breathed out beside her.

"Kenny! What's happening!" Katjaa shouted from inside the RV.

"Keep Duck away from the windows, Jesus Christ" Kenny called back, Alyssa glanced to the door and saw Clementine standing there looking down at Carley's body. She bit her lip, another horror that the little girl should never have witnessed.

Kenny walked over to where Lee still had Lilly pinned against the RV looking furious. "Get in!" he said angryily "we're leaving this crazy bitch!"

"She couldn't be trusted, Lee" Lilly whispered "I swear, please."

"Wh-what are we going to do with her?" Ben asked nervously, stepping away from Carley.

"Leave her for the walkers" Alyssa said glaring at the woman.

"Why? Why Lilly?" Lee said quietly, he closed his eyes and then let out a sigh as he released her hands. "You're not coming with us" he finally said.

"I'll die out here!" Lilly said pathetically, sounding close to tears.

Lee bent down and picked up her gun and gave her a cold glare "I don't care."

"You're a murderer, Lilly!" Kenny snapped "we can't have you with us!"

"I'm a murderer?" Lilly glanced around desperately "You've had Lee with you this whole time-!"

"I don't care what he did before!" Kenny said angryily.

Alyssa shook her head "None of us do."

Lilly's eyes widened "You know?"

"Yeah, he told me. I don't give a shit!" Kenny raised an eyebrow "If we keep you with us, how long until you get ME?"

"I was trying to protect all of us!" Lilly said pleadingly, looking at Lee who didn't even meet her eyes. "I don't have anything left!"

"Get in Lee!" Kenny said firmly, he put an arm around Alyssa and looked at Ben "let's go you guys."

Lilly looked at Lee who just gave her a look of deep loathing before following the others onto the RV and shutting the door behind him.

Alyssa watched as Lee sat next to Clementine not saying a word, she glanced out the back window, watching Lilly as they began to drive away. She walked out into the middle of the road watching them leave her behind, Alyssa seen her look around quickly before running into the woods as dark shapes appeared beside her and then she was gone.

Just like Carley.

* * *

"Lee? A word please?"

It had been a while since anyone had last spoke and Lee made his way to the front of the RV, "What's up?" he asked quietly, he watched as Kenny and Katjaa shared a heartbroken stare and he looked down at Duck and noticed how pale and still he was, "is Duck feeling all right?"

Katjaa hesitated before she gently pulled up her son's top a little and Lee's heart sank as he saw the bite mark. "What the fuck ..."

"Happened during the raid," Kenny said quietly.

Lee sighed "What's the plan? We've never had a bite victim in the group before."

Katjaa softly stroked her son's hair as he cuddled into her "I'm going to keep an eye on him and see what I can do, from a medical perspective" she said numbly.

"We keep the same plan unless something changes. East" Kenny said a little heatedly.

Lee felt sorry for the both of them; he couldn't imagine what they were going through. "Guys-"

"What else is there to do?" Katjaa snapped then she sighed "we thought you should know."

Kenny glanced over his shoulder at Lee, "Important to stay honest with each other," he said sadly.

Katjaa nodded "Anyway, if you could tell Clementine and Alyssa, we would appreciate it."

Lee nodded and put a hand on Kenny's shoulder, "Anything I can do, let me know" he said quietly, squeezing gently and walking away. Clementine was looking out the window as Lee walked by her towards Alyssa who sat at the table with Ben, she looked withdrawn.

"Alyssa?" Lee said quietly, sitting beside her, "you okay?"

"When did everything get so fucked up?" she whispered and Lee seen tears form in her eyes "first I lose Mark, the only guy I truly liked, to those fuckin' redneck cannibals and now Lilly shoots Carley right in front of us," she glanced down at her top where it was stained red, "that's her blood on me Lee, I should be freaked out right?" she let out a dry sob "but I've seen too much blood shed now it doesn't freak me out."

Lee hugged her tight, and closed his eyes as she shook against him. "I need you to be strong right now, honey" he said sadly "we've got a problem and I'll need everyone's help."

"Please, don't say there's more bad news" Alyssa said weakly "not after today."

"Duck's been bit" Lee said quietly "Katjaa and Kenny are gonna need our support."

Alyssa leaned back and looked at him shocked, "When?"

"It happened during the raid."

Alyssa let out a shaky breath and sniffed, "How long's he got left?"

"I don't know, but we need to try and make it .. easier on them all during this time," Lee said quietly "show them we're there."

"I wish this was all a dream," Alyssa whispered "I hated my life, my mum left, my dad drank and beat me but I'd take that over this shitty existence where I lose people I care about like this."

Lee kissed the side of her head, "I'd give anything for you and Clem not to be in this, but we are and we're gonna have to try and survive, we can't just give up on each other."

"You go see to Clementine," Alyssa said suddenly sounding exhausted, she lay down on the bench and looked like a little girl to Lee, "I'm gonna try and sleep, and hopefully wake up somewhere else."

Lee glanced at Ben who was looking worriedly at Alyssa, "Keep an eye on her for me," Lee said, "I need to go tell Clementine. Ben nodded and leaned against his hand, looking distraught.

Lee walked back to the bench and sat next to Clementine, who gave him a quick smile and lifted his arm and leaned into his chest. Glancing down at her, Lee sighed "Duck is bitten."

He felt her stiffen and she glanced up confused, "Huh?"

"He got bit by a walker trying to escape the motel."

Clementine hugged into Lee more and sounded close to tears, "I don't feel good" she paused and then asked "what about Carley?"

Lee pressed his lips together, thinking about her, how they had left her at the side of the road like they did. She deserved more, she deserved to be alive and sitting next to him but she was dead and they had no time for a burial for her. "Gone. But won't come back" Lee said quietly.

"Because she was shot in the head" Clementine said sadly.

"That's right" Lee said, hugging her close "it's horrible."

"Yeah it is."

Lee, for the first time, felt helpless and he wished he was a little boy again, who could be soothed by his mother giving him a hug and kissing him on the forehead. Never again would he hear her voice or see her face. She was gone. Just like his father and brother. "I miss my parents" he said shakily.

"Me too" Clementine whispered.

"I know" he thought for a moment and smiled as memories of his mother came to him, "my mom played the tuba."

"Really?" Clementine asked glancing up at him.

Lee nodded, "She was a really small lady. It was strange," he chuckled to himself "this one time my brother thought it would be funny to fill her tuba full of flour on April Fool's day. And that same day she thought it'd be funny to wake me up for school by playing it right in my face."

"What happened?"

"Just about what you'd expect" he smiled.

Clementine let out a little laugh, "That's funny."

"Yeah," Lee said then the smile disappeared off his face "I don't know why I remembered that."

The drove on in silence and the only noise to be heard was the rumbling of the RV and the dripping of the tap. Alyssa was still lying down on the bench with Ben keeping watch, and there was no sound from the front but then Lee heard Clementine give out a little groan and he glanced down at her, and to his horror he saw her eyes pure white and her face all putrid like a walkers. With a growl, she sprung at hima nd tried to gnaw at his neck.

"Clem! FUCK!" he cursed as he tried to hold her back from his neck "what happened! Holy shit!"

She pulled free of his hands and sunk her teeth into his neck.

Jumping slightly, Lee felt his heart race as he realised that he had drifted off and it was all a nightmare. Clem lay sleeping in his arms, not a walker and he sighed in relief.

"We got something up ahead."


	24. Long Road Ahead: Chapter Six

Gently laying Clementine down on the couch, Lee stood up and smiled softly when her hand held onto his till the last moment and she remained sleeping peacefully as he made his way up to the front and saw what Kenny was talking about.

Kenny sighed "Dammit, roads blocked," the RV slowed down and he slumped back in the drivers seat "now we gotta deal with this."

In front of them was a large freighter train and no way to move it, getting out the RV, Lee felt a little helpless as he looked up at the obstacle they were now faced with. Could this day get any worse?

Ben and Alyssa came out to join him and Kenny and Lee heard Alyssa sigh in frustration, "Is there any way to get around it?" Ben asked hesitantly.

Kenny shook his head "Doesn't look like it. On foot mabye," he walked in front of the train and sighed again "can't really afford to do that now."

"This seems like a safe area," Lee pointed out "all this brush will stop anything from creeping up on us."

Clementine came out of the RV, and glanced around, she began to head over to Lee and Alyssa when the passenger door opened and a tired looking Katjaa helped Duck out of the front, Clementine watched sadly as Katjaa led her son over to sit in the sun.

Duck didn't look so good.

"Why don't you, me and Ben go look around?" Alyssa mumbled as she watched Duck hold onto his mother tightly as they sat down.

Lee nodded "Yeah, everyone else relax," he looked to Clementine "Clem, stay close to Kenny and Kat, okay?"

"Lee, if you come across something to drink, if there's a dining car or something," Katjaa said worriedly "I think Duck's a bit dehydrated."

Kenny looked away from his family "It's a freighter, hon" he glanced at Alyssa "be careful in there."

"What? You think there might be something dangerous inside of an abandoned locomotive?" Lee said walking away "hadn't crossed my mind."

"I'll be careful, don't worry" Alyssa said smiling a little at Kenny, who returned it weakly.

She followed Lee over to the boxcar door that was shut and looked at it frowning a little, "Wonder what's inside," she made a face "I hope it's not a walker."

Lee looked at her, "Be ready if it is," he said "I'm gonna open it."

Lifting the lock, he slid open the door and glanced around; it was empty. Inside there were boxes and bits of rubbish and paper, and a makeshift bed out of a dirty mattress. "Woah," Ben said, climbing inside the boxcar after Lee and Alyssa.

"Somebody's been livin' in here" Lee said quietly.

Alyssa nodded in agreement and walked over to the other side of the boxcar and glanced out, "Yeah, you think they're gone?"

"I hope so," Lee said bending down and investigating the pieces of paper, "but this looks recently used. Be on the lookout and have your guard up, both of you."

"I'll check out here," Alyssa said heading through the door as Ben followed her, "give a holler if you need me."

Lee nodded and straightened up, he noticed a bottle of water and sighed gratefully when he noticed some water in it, he would get this out to Katjaa for Duck, his heart ached to think what the young boy would be going through right now, knowing he was bit and going to die.

Before he left, he noticed a map lying on the floor, he stooped down and picked it up and saw it showed where the train would have went if it worked. It looked like the train was heading to Savannah, route 27, where Kenny was leading them too.

It was just a shame that the couldn't get the train to move.

He climbed out of the cart and headed over to Katjaa with the bottle of water, "Here, I found some water" he said to her, holding it out.

"Ah, thank you, perfect," Katjaa smiled accepting it, she looked down at Duck and her bottom lip wobbled a little, "he's allergic to bees" she said finally.

"Is that right?" Lee said kindly, noticing her expression.

"It's all I can keep thinking about," she said sounding close to tears "like somehow that matters."

"It doesn't" Lee shook his head.

"I know," she closed her eyes "well I don't but you're probably right."

Lee stood up straight and sighed, he noticed Clementine glance over sadly, "Has Clementine said anything to you about Carely or ... Duck, or anything? I'm worried about her" he asked Katjaa quietly.

Katjaa shook her head sadly, "No, not a word, that little girl is a puzzle."

"Yeah, she is."

Katjaa sighed "Poor Carley. God, where did yesterday go"

"I don't know," Lee said sadly.

She met his eyes and gave him a worried look, "Are you okay?" she asked "I know you were fond of her."

Lee was silent for a moment before he nodded, "I was. This wasn't any time for, you know, romance but yeah .. I was fond of her."

Katjaa gave him a sad look, "She was fond of you too, most could see that," Duck coughed and Katjaa stroked his back, "you should go and check on Clementine, I'll be okay here."

Nodding, Lee walked over to check on the young girl. "Hey sweet pea, you okay out here?" he asked her.

She shook her head at him and gave Duck another glance, "I don't think Duck feels good."

"Me neither," Lee said quietly, "just stay here while we check out the train, okay?"

* * *

Alyssa walked along the train towards the cab door, with Ben right behind her and just before she opened it, she looked through the glass and saw someone slumped over at the wheel. Narrowing her eyes, she reached behind and got her gun out from her waistband.

"Shit," she whispered to Ben, "walker. Sitting in the chair, we got 'im."

Opening the door quietly, Alyssa aimed her gun at the walkers head and took a step into the cabin. Just before she could put the gun to it's head, the body fell forward and smacked off of dashboard, and remained still. Sighing, Alyssa put her gun away and rolled her eyes at Ben "all that for a corpse," she shook her head "suppose we should look him over."

"Yeah, feel free."

Alyssa kicked the body over and he fell backwards staring up at them with one eye and she seen that half his head and brain were neatly sliced off, the window in front of the wheel was broken and there was blood and bits of brain on it.

"I don't think this guy came back," Ben said slowly.

A flashing light caught Alyssa's eyes and she looked down "That light is blinking."

"Push it."

Alyssa raised an eyebrow at Ben, "Push it?"

Ben copied her expression, "Why not?"

"Are you fuckin' serious right now?" Alyssa asked "we don't know what it would do."

Ben rolled his eyes, "Here look," he pushed the button and from outside the cabin there was a whooshing noise and Alyssa seen more lights come on, "it's just the brakes."

"Okay, I'll give you that one" Alyssa said snorting.

Lee and Kenny caught up with them in the cabin and Kenny looked happy "This fucker works?" he asked.

"It would seem like it," Lee said nodding.

"I'll be damned," Kenny squeezed Alyssa's shoulder happily before sitting down in the chair, "how the hell do we get it moving?"

Alyssa smiled "I don't know, as Mister Amtrak over here."

"No clue, sorry" Ben smiled back as he pulled the dead body of the engineer out of the door.

"We found this in the boxcar back there," Lee said to Kenny, "I think we may have struck lucky."

Kenny took the map off of him and looked down at it, a look of excitment coming over his face "Woah, is this what it looks like?" he asked.

"I think so," Lee smiled.

"This hoss will take us right to Savannah," Kenny said happily, "a hundred tons of steel. Put a thousand walkers between us and the ocean and we don't have to give a shit!"

"I wouldn't mind plowng through some walkers" Alyssa grinned

"That's the spirit" Kenny smiled at her "we gotta get this thing started. There's gotta be some sort of ... manual or somethin'."

"I don't know about that," Alyssa said "but I'll leave you men to it and I'll go look around some more."

"Be careful" Lee said to her, raising an eyebrow.

Alyssa rolled her eyes but smiled as she passed Ben on the way out. "Always."

Kenny glanced at Ben quickly, "Ben, if you could keep an eye on the girls and Duck, I'd appreciate it. I'm goin' to make sense of these controls." Ben looked a little disheartened as he walked back to where the rest of the group were but at least Lee knew Alyssa could handle herself, Ben wasn't too good in defending others or himself.

"Man, this could be exactly what we need!" Kenny said to Lee.

* * *

Alyssa slid down the ladder and just as she turned around, a walker's hand was near her face snatching as it growled. She jumped and stepped neatly backwards when she realised it was trapped by it's seatbelt. The car had crashed into the train and obviously the seatbelt hadn't saved the person from turning.

She was going to leave it behind when she noticed a box of crackers lying at it's feet. Biting her lip, she assessed the scene. There was no food on the train and Clementine as well as Duck needed to eat, she had to at least try and get the food; it's what Lee would have done.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the car door and realised this could be her weapon, she banged it shut hard as the walker roared at her from the drivers seat. This would do the trick.

"This door's gonna hurt," she smiled looking at the walker "you aren't gonna like this."

Leaning over and catching the walkers hand, she unbuckled the seatbelt with the other and quickly stepped back, the walker realising it was free started to crawl towards her snarling as it came closer.

Slamming the door straight into it's head, it shuddered and fell but still twitched, using all her strength, she slammed it again and it fell still in the seat of the car. Giving it a quick kick just to make sure it was truly gone this time, she felt proud of herself and reached over and grabbed the crackers.

Standing up straight, she glanced about and realised there was nothing else to help and walked around the front of the train back to where Katjaa was sitting with Duck leaning on her.

"Here," she said kindly, offering the box to her "I found these ... if Duck's up for it."

Katjaa gave her a weak smile "Thank you, that's very thoughtful," she looked down at Duck sadly, "he isn't fussy, you know?"

"What?"

"Most kids, they're really fussy about what they'll eat. Hate vegetables, that kind of thing."

"Not Duck, huh?" Alyssa smiled sadly.

"No," Katjaa stroked his hair slowly "the most trouble I ever have is making him use a fork" she nodded "thank you Alyssa."

"Sure."

* * *

Lee started to look around the cabin, hoping that the engineer had made a note of how to start up the train while he was alive. He noticed a notepad on the side of the controls and saw the words 'Engine Startup' at the top of the page.

"Shit, this is it!" he said happily "instructions on starting the engine" he leaned down and his happiness turned to dissapointment when he seen the page had been ripped off, "damn pages are gone," he sighed. Peering closer, he frowned and felt the indentations on the blank sheet; he had an idea, he just needed a pencil.

"Back in a bit," he said to Kenny, who gave him a wave as he looked over the buttons.

He walked over to the RV quickly and began to search the insides for a pencil or bit of chalk, he searched cupboards and drawers but didn't find anything until he went to the front and saw a pencil in the cupholder. "Thank you, thank you!" he sighed, grabbing it and returning to the train.

If this worked, he owed Clementine a big thank you for the idea.


	25. Long Road Ahead: Chapter Seven

"Son of a bitch!" Kenny shouted out happily, "whatever you did lit the dash up!"

Alyssa came through the door and widened her eyes "Did you figure out a way to get the train going?" she asked Lee, "seriously?"

"Seriously," Lee glanced at the note, "okay looks like the last two are out here, wish me luck."

"You'll do it," Alyssa smiled at him "you always do!"

"She's right pal," Kenny nodded "if we're in a tight spot, you're the one who gets us out of it, god knows what would happen without you."

"Save the praise for when the train's running," Lee snorted, going out of the door, "then I'll be a genious." He walked along and opened up the engine compartment and spotted the number nine and glanced again at the instructions, "Left, right and that should do it," Lee muttered, "here's hoping."

He turned the dial left and then after it clicked back into place, to the right. He held his breath but still nothing and just as he was about to give up hope, the train came to life and there was whirring noises as power came back to the locomotive.

"Holy shit!" Kenny said from the doorway, looking excited "we're golden!"

Lee didn't want to ruin his good mood by asking about Duck, so instead smiled back "Yeah, we are. Golden. Man, feels good!"

Kenny looked out and nodded "Let's fuckin' enjoy this" he grinned at Lee, "c'mon, let's see if she'll move."

They headed back into the cabin and Alyssa beamed at them both, "Can't believe we're gonna travel by train!" she said "let's see the walkers try and get us now."

Kenny nodded, "You're goddamn right," he sat down on the stool and glanced back at Lee, "all yours" he indicated to the throttle and Lee slowly moved it forward and for a few glorius seconds the train moved also but then came to a stop.

"Damn it!" Kenny closed his eyes and swore to himself "of course, we're still attached."

"I'll go have a look," Alyssa said, "see if I can get us un-stuck."

"I saw some tools in one of the engine compartments," Lee said to her, "mabye one of them will help, I'm gonna go tell everyone the good news; we could use some of it."

"You're damn right there," Kenny muttered, looking out the window at his family, "I don't think I could take anymore bad news."

Alyssa gave him a sad glance as she exited the cabin; there was one more bit of bad news and that was when Duck had no time left, she glanced over and saw Katjaa try to give him more water but he coughed and began to cry into her shoulder. Shaking her head, she concentrated on her task and opened the engine compartment. As Lee said, there were several tools in there and she frowned; which one was the right bloody one?

Picking up one at random, she shut the doors and made her way back to boxcar and hopped out on the other side and seen where the problem was. Lifting the coupler bar she groaned when she seen it had snapped off and was no use anymore. She slid the monkey wrench under the coupler and pushed hard to get it up, when it seemed like it wasn't going to work, there was suddenly a bang and it lifted out, seperating the attached boxcar holding them back.

"Hey, Kenny!" she shouted up to the front, "we're loose!"

When she got no answer, she shook her head and walked back to the boxcar; she couldn't wait to tell Lee that she had managed to do it. Just as she stood up straight after climbing in, there was a gruff male voice behind her.

"You touch any of my stuff?"

She jumped and looked around to see a homeless looking man, with a large jacket on, he walked closer and looked down at her, but Alyssa held her nerve "My friend took the map of the train route."

"That's fine," the older man said, "you can have those."

"Really?" she asked, raising an eyebrow; she thought that homeless people were protective of their stuff.

"Yeah, I got 'em all up here" he pointed to his head then offered his hand, "names Chuck, Charles if you're fancy."

"Alyssa" she said shaking his hand.

"That your crew outside?"

"Yeah, that's what's left of my group."

"And the guy up in the cab?" Alyssa nodded at him "I saw you walking through here and thought about scaring the pants off of you."

"Glad you didn't, could have got messy" Alyssa snorted.

"Couldn't force myself to do it" Chuck smiled "already met everyone outside; they all warmed to me right quick in direct sunlight."

He hopped down and Alyssa followed him back over to the group where Clementine jumped up excitedly at her, as Chuck sat down and picked up a guitar. "You met Chuck!" she said happily.

"Yeah, I did," Alyssa replied back.

Katjaa smiled at her, "It's so nice to meet someone normal for a change," she said.

"He gave us candy. Ben, too!" Clementine told her, Alyssa glanced at Ben who was still chewing and he shrugged at her and she raised an eyebrow shaking her head at him.

"Can you play?" Alyssa asked, sitting down next to him, "been ages since I heard music."

"I know a couple of tunes," he said, playing a soft tune, "it's nice to have an audience for once, the walkers don't appreciate my guitar skills."

* * *

Lee came walking over from the RV and saw the older man sitting by the group playing the guitar, he knew at once he was no risk as Katjaa and more importantly Alyssa didn't give him worried looks or anything, he walked up and Chuck saw him and stood up straight, "Welcome," Lee said.

"Thank ya," Chuck said, "nice seein' people who are alive for a change."

"Chuck lives on the train," Alyssa informed Lee, "he's cool."

"Is that so?" Lee said, "well, I'm sorry for us invading your home, I didn't realise."

"It's okay," Chuck said shrugging, "you folks didn't seem dangerous."

"Have you met Kenny?" Lee asked, wondering why he wasn't storming out here demanding to know who this stranger was.

"Sure did," Chuck sat back down, "man shares my love of the road."

"That's for certain," Lee nodded, he was going to ask Chuck more questions when Duck suddenly began to cough violently, his little body shaking from the pain and Katjaa tried to soothe him.

Chuck gave Katjaa a sad look "I'm awfully sorry your son's not feeling good."

"I appreciate your concern," Katjaa nodded weakly.

"Well, with a little TLC I'm sure he'll be fit as a fiddle in no time."

Lee hung his head; if only that was the case, he wished with all his being that it was just a bug that Duck had, not a walker bite but there was no point, there was no changing what was going to happen to the young boy.

"And I can offer ya'll whatever I got, although it ain't much" Chuck said kindly.

Kenny had joined them and gave Chuck a suspicious glance but Katjaa smiled back "Thank you .. we'd like to do the same."

"Why don't we hold off on-"

"Stay with us," Katjaa interrupted Kenny giving him a look, "we'd like the company." Kenny shot her an annoyed look but she didn't glance at him, sensing the tension, Chuck went and sat down and began to play again while Kenny headed back to the train.

Lee glanced and grinned at the two girls smiling as Chuck played; it had been a long time since they had heard music. He walked over to Kenny and looked at the ruined part of the train, "So we cut loose?" he asked him.

"Alyssa managed to prise it loose, thank god," Kenny said "I reckon it's time to go."

He walked back over to the group and Lee followed him, "We ain't got much left, so just gather whatever you have" he said to them "we're burnin' daylight, let's go."

They got up and headed over to the boxcar and began to climb onto the train, Alyssa hung back and walked alongside Chuck, "Are you coming with us?" she asked him.

"Well, it sounds like your friend here is taking my home," he answered.

"That's a yes then" Kenny rolled his eyes.

Chuck chuckled "Haven't found anything better for keeping the creepy-crawlies out than that boxcar" he walked over and hopped on "so yeah, I'll tag along."

Clementine came to a stop in front of Lee and gave him a sad look, "Duck's still sick" she said quietly.

"Get on the train, Clementine" Kenny snapped a little angryily and Lee shot him an annoyed look as Clementine hung her head and done as she was told.

Katjaa carried Duck in her arms and gave Kenny a worried look, "He is getting sicker" she whispered.

"Let me look at him," Kenny said shaking his head and he looked into his son's face and Lee saw his eyes sadden at the sight and he took a step back.

"We can keep going if you want" Lee said comfortingly.

Kenny frowned at him, "Damn right I want. That's what we're doing."

"I think Lee just wants to talk it through" Katjaa intervened.

"It's TALKED THROUGH!" Kenny snarled suddenly and Katjaa looked down sadly "get on Kat, I'll be up front. I don't want to hear any nonsense until we get where we're goin'."

Lee helped her to get on the train and then Duck and he bit down the angry comment he wanted to give to Kenny for snapping at everyone, it wasn't the time and then headed up to the front of the train to join Kenny, "You know what to do," Kenny smiled faintly and indicated to the throttle.

Lee pushed it and this time when the train moved, it kept going and nothing held it back. He shared a smile with Kenny but noticed how it slipped off his face quite quickly and knew he was scared about what was happening to his son. God. If it was Clementine or Alyssa, Lee was sure he would be in denial too.

"Well, this will make it easier to get to the coast" Alyssa said, walking into the cabin and smiling at the both of them.

"Damn right," Kenny said snapping out of his sadness and putting an arm around her shoulders, "let's see the walkers stop us now."

* * *

Clementine sat quietly in the boxcar, slightly swaying as the train rushed them forward. She folded her arms on top of her knees and leaned on them, watching Duck lie sleeping on his mother. She still couldn't believe that he had been bit and felt like crying when she thought about what was going to happen.

At the start she had wished that there was another kid her age in the group, or even that Alyssa was a little younger but as the days went by, Duck had become her best friend. Sure he could be annoying but he was company and they both played games and ran about, not worrying about anything and she came to think of him like a brother.

Clementine remembered the day Lilly had told her she wouldn't be getting rations as she had some the previous day, and how hungry she was but Duck came over and shared his rations with her and they both promised to share rations so neither of them would go hungry. They even pinky sweared on it.

Now they were homeless, rationless and Duck was going to die. She was going to lose her best friend.

Lee stood up leaning against the boxcar, next to Chuck, she liked Chuck; he could play the guitar and he had a box full of candy and given her some more. She only wished she could share them with Duck; he'd love the candy Chuck had.

"Gotta be hard on ya, eh?" Chuck said quietly to Lee, "three adults taking care of four kids; no disrespect" he added looking at Ben and Alyssa who looked a little annoyed at being called kids.

"There were more of us," Lee said quietly.

"Dead get'm?"

"No."

"Ahh," Chuck said sadly "livin' got 'em."

Suddenly there was a choking noise, and Lee glanced over at Duck who had blood coming out of his mouth as he choked, "LEE!" Katjaa said worriedly "Lee, I need you. Right now" when he came over she looked down at the napkin she had been holding, "would you get that off of his face? My hands are full here."

"Sure," Lee said sadly, and picked up the napkin.

"Thank you, could you just get that off of his face, please?"

Gently, Lee wiped the blood off of Duck's pale face and sighed; it was killing him enough to see the young boy like this, he couldn't imagine what Katjaa and Kenny were going through. "He's out of time" Katjaa sounded close to tears, "we need to stop this train."

"You stay with Katjaa," Alyssa said standing up "I'll go tell Kenny."

Lee nodded, knowing full well she could get to him better than he could; Kenny would probably punch him in the face rather than stop the train, "Let him know we need to stop now" he said firmly "his son needs him."

Nodding, Alyssa rushed through the boxcar before Lee changed his mind and made Kenny stop the train. Holding onto the railing, she walked up to the cabin feeling the wind in her hair, she opened the boxcar door and looked at Kenny sadly.

"You need to stop the train."

Kenny ignored her completely and kept his eyes on the train tracks ahead, Alyssa sighed and rubbed her head; this wasn't going to be easy. "Katjaa needs you Kenny," she said softly "so does Duck."

"Duck will be fine!" Kenny said angryily.

"He won't be, he's going Kenny."

Kenny glanced at her, and she seen the anger and fear in his eyes "What's the goddamn deal? He's a little sick, but we can't just quit!" he shot her an annoyed look, "it's a scratch! He's not like the others. Jesus, all y'all are makin' it worse!"

"This isn't about Duck" she said softly.

"The hell it's not!" he snapped "you think you know me? You're a stupid little girl who doesn't know a damn thing! What, you think you can pick me apart with the crappy education you got!"

"It's not like that!" she said, hurt by his words.

"The fuck it isn't!"

"You think you're the reason, you think it's your fault that Duck was bitten" Alyssa said shaking her head slightly "like you had this coming, or something?" It came to her, "you didn't kill Hershel's son."

Kenny held his head in his hands "Yes, I did. And now it's catching up to me" he said wretchedly.

"That's not what happened. You looked out for your son, protected him like a Dad should and a bad thing happened to someone else's son," she bit her lip, "if anyone killed him it was me, I didn't save him in time but I'm not letting it get to me, you can't anymore, not in this world."

Wiping his eye with his sleeve, Kenny shook his head "There ain't no way this world let's my son live when I helped put someone else's in the ground."

"That not the way it works," Alyssa said softly "you know that" she tentatively put her hand on his shoulder and he gave her a sad look "stop the train, Kenny, please."

Kenny sighed and then put a hand on top of hers and with the other, pulled the throttle back so the train came to a stop, "I didn't mean what I said," he told her softly "you're not stupid, anything but."

"I know," Alyssa said, trying to hold back the tears "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"I know darlin', I know."

* * *

The train stopped completely and Lee sighed in relief, Alyssa had managed to convince him to stop. Katjaa let out a shaky breath and looked down at Duck and a tear dribbled down her face, "It's time," she said in a choked voice, "Lee, could you help me out please."

Katjaa got out and Lee gently laid Duck down on top of the blanket Chuck had given them to wrap him up in, his breathing was worse and he could hardly keep his eyes open. Clementine came forward and sat next to Duck and slowly took his hand in hers and squeezed it gently.

Alyssa came walking up with Kenny beside her, and the tears were already falling from her face and Lee felt his heart grow heavy at the scene before him. "Ken ... it's ... I think it's time" Katjaa whispered, giving him a sad look.

Kenny was silent before he sniffed and glanced at Chuck and Ben, "The boy's been bit. In case you haven't figured that out."

Chuck nodded sadly and looked down at the ground while Ben said nothing and leaned against the train looking stricken. Lee put a hand on Kenny's shoulder, "What do you need?" he asked quietly, glancing at them both.

"I ... I..." but Kenny couldn't say anything else after that.

"Katjaa?" Lee asked her sadly.

"It's time to .." she shuddered and let out a shaky breath as more tears came to her eyes "this is not possible" she whispered, smoothing Duck's short hair.

"What are we gonna do?" Kenny asked, sounding close to tears.

"We can't allow him to become one of those things," Katjaa bit her lip, "I won't allow him too."

"But what if ... what if he doesn't?"

"Kenny," Katjaa sounded tired and defeated "I love you very much, I love our son more than life itself. I need you to hear me, what you are saying, that he may not turn, is foolish."

"But-"

"No," she interruped him, standing up straight and giving him a sad look.

Kenny bit his lip, "Theres- come on Kat!" he begged, a tear running down his cheek.

"If you think of one," she said mournfully "you let me know."

"Isn't there some sort of pill, or something we can just give him ..." Kenny asked desperately.

Katjaa closed her eyes as if in pain, "Stop it."

"He can just drift off to sleep, right hon?" he let out a shaky breath and gave her a pleading look "I mean, Jesus, this is our son."

"I KNOW!" Katjaa snapped then she sighed, "but we know its ... here," she pointed to her head "or nothing."

"Well .. fuck ... just ... who then?" Kenny rubbed his face "you want me to?"

"You don't have too."

"I'll do it-"

"No! You don't have to do it!"

"Katjaa .. fuck ... I-I-I can ... I can do this"

"Ken, I love you, but this is beyond you," Katjaa said weakly "you cannot do it."

Lee stepped forward, "I'll do it," he said sadly "this is something a parent shouldn't have to do."

"No, it should be a parent" Katjaa said shaking her head.

"Lee's right, Kat. We cans say our goodbyes and ..." Kenny swallowed hard ".. just let that be it."

"I don't know," Katjaa said sounding conflicted, "Lee, you'd be doing this family a great service" she looked to him with eyes full of tears.

Lee shook his head "Like I said, no parent should do this" he gave Kenny a quick glance, "it's bad enough you both need to go through this."

Katjaa nodded and then looked at Kenny, "Why don't we take him into the forest. So Clementine doesn't have to see" he nodded sadly, blinking back tears and Katjaa glanced at Lee "give us a moment to say goodbye?"

"Of course."


	26. Long Road Ahead: Chapter Eight

Alyssa hugged herself tight as she watched Katjaa pick up Duck and walk into the forest with Kenny following her, she pressed her lips together but the tears still fell and she covered her mouth with her hand, shaking as she did.

Clementine looked confused at Alyssa's tears, "What's happening?" she asked quietly.

Lee knelt in front of her and sighed "Duck is dying, sweet pea, we can't help him now."

"I know" she whispered sadly, then she met his eyes "what are you doing?"

Lee couldn't lie to her and he looked up to Alyssa who nodded slowly before closing her eyes again and leaning against the train, "I'm putting him out of his misery," Lee told her "to make sure he doesn't come back as a walker."

"Oh."

"Yeah, look Clem, things will-"

A gunshot came from the forest and Lee jumped to his feet, "What the-?"

He heard Kenny shout out, and he felt worried, "Oh god, what's happened?" Alyssa cried out and took out her gun before running into the woods.

"Ben! Take Clementine into the train," Lee said quickly, getting out his own gun, fearing the worst, "go! It'll be fine."

He caught up to Alyssa quickly, who had hung back, her face full of fear of what she might see. "Keep close to me!" Lee said, continuing to run into the forest keeping an eye out for Kenny and Katjaa. His heart was thudding as he ran but came to a shuddering halt when he seen what had happened; Alyssa stopped beside him and gasped loudly.

Duck lay up against a tree, barely concious as his father leaned over his mother's corpse, a pool of blood coming from Katjaa's head as Lee realised what she had done.

"KAT! KAT!" Kenny shook her hard as if he could wake her up this way "KATJAA!"

"Oh god," Alyssa whispered and glanced at Lee with tears in her eyes.

"Why, Kat?" Kenny whispered, tears falling freely from his eyes as he tenderly cupped his wife's cheek "Honey, oh fuckin' God ..." he put his head against hers and cried out loud.

"Oh my god ..." Lee shut his eyes and shook his head, the image of Katjaa's dead gaze at her son not leaving his head.

"I ... I-" Kenny choked back on a sob and shakingly pushed Katjaa's eyeslids down so her eyes were closed, his hand lingering on her face before he looked to Duck, who was still breathing weirdly and barely had his eyes open.

Lee watched as Kenny picked up the gun and stood swaying slightly in front of his son, he and Alyssa stood on either side of him. "What do we do?" he asked sadly, looking down at his son.

Lee glanced at him and knew by looking at his face that Katjaa had been right; he couldn't do this. "Give me the gun, Ken" he said quietly "I'll do it."

Kenny's shoulders shook as he pushed the gun into Lee's hands and walked away, Alyssa gave Lee a sorrowful look before putting an arm around Kenny and closing her eyes, not wanting to witness what Lee had to do now.

Closing his eyes, Lee sighed and opened them again, raising the gun so it was pointed at Duck's head. "You were the best sidekick Duck," he whispered, as the boy continued to breathe heavily and his eyes swivelled to Lee, "you won't be in pain anymore, Robin."

He took a deep breath before pulling the trigger.

* * *

Lee closed the door quietly and glanced around at Clementine, who sat at the door watching the countryside whoosh by her as the train continued on it's way with her walkie-talkie beside her.

"You want to talk?" he asked softly, as he sat down beside her.

Her face was full of sadness and she shook her head, "Uh, uh."

"You uh, ... understand what happened?"

"Yes."

"Okay," he noticed her faraway look and gave her a worried look, "what you thinking about?"

"Clementine hung her head and looked wretchedly at her feet, "What Chuck said."

"What'd Chuck say?" Lee asked her slowly.

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes "That what happened to Duck, would happen to me."

"What?" Lee snapped angryily, "the fuck he did!"

"Swear" Clementine said dully, opening her eyes and looking at him.

"Sorry," Lee said quickly, but his anger didn't fade "I'm gonna go talk some sense into him."

"Don't be mad," Clementine whispered, glancing up at him "I'm not mad."

Lee got up and walked by the others as he made his way to the front of the train where Chuck was leaning against the railing, "Hey!" he said angryily.

"How you doin'."

Lee frowned at the older man, "I don't care what reasons you had for doing it, no reason to go and tell my girl she's gonna end up dead!" he snapped.

Chuck gave him a grave look "'Cause she is" and then he sighed when he seen Lee's frown deepen "I don't know much about you folks, but I can tell you, sure as the sun gon' come up tomorrow, that y'all keep goin' on like this and that girl ain't gonna make it."

"What do you know!"

"I know that you don't have a goddamn plan. We get to Savannah and then what?" Chuck asked raising an eyebrow.

"We find a boat," Lee said firmly "that's the plan."

Chuck gave him a look that told him straight away he didn't like his answer, "You think that's a new idea? You got even the foggiest idea 'bout where you're gonna find one of those?" he shook his head "look, sit down with the girl and hash it out. Find a map for Christ's sake - I'd give you one if I had it ... and if something were to happen to you-"

"It won't."

Chuck rolled his eyes "If it WERE, you gotta prepare the girl. Teach her to use a weapon and for criminy, cut that hair."

Lee thought about what he was saying, "She's a little girl" he finally said weakly "she shouldn't have to learn this stuff."

"She'll die a little girl if you treat her like one," Chuck said bluntly "you gotta consider her a living person. That's it. You're either living or you're not. You ain't little, you ain't a girl, you ain't a boy, you ain't strong or smart. You're alive" he stopped and then added "look at her hair, you got her running around with a mop that's gonna act like velcro to any hands swingin' it's way. Find some scissors in my pack and take care of that hair before a walker does it for you and then show her how to use a gun because like it or not, that's what saves your life from here on out."

"I hear you," Lee said quietly looking down, his anger fading.

Chuck looked at him sadly "I don't mean to tell you how to do your job, but too many people have died already ... and seein' another little girl die might just do me in."

"Thanks for tha advice, Chuck."

"It's something," then seeing that Lee didn't move, he narrowed his eyes "what's on your mind?"

"I shot the kid, you know" Lee said hollowly "just shot him in the head."

"I suppose someone had to" Chuck said quietly, "you did the right thing."

"What a mess," Lee sighed.

"You said it."

"I found this in your pack when I was looking for more water, if you want it" Lee said, handing the whiskey bottle over to Chuck.

Chuck grinned and accepted it off of Lee, "Damn, didn't realize I had it left. Thank ya" he looked at Lee and shook the bottle, "want a nip?"

After the morning that Lee had had, a drink of whiskey sounded incredibly tempting, "Sure, thank you" he said nodding to Chuck before sipping some of the whiskey, it burned his throat and he coughed "oof."

"No known for it's finish," Chuck admitted taking a swig himself "anybody in there want to share a drink, you let 'em know."

"Will do."

He walked into the drivers cabin and seen Kenny looking grief stricken at the wheel, "Hey man," he said sadly, "Chuck wants to know if you could use a drink?"

Kenny thought for a moment before nodding "He's got some?" Lee nodded and he got up and went outside to find Chuck. Lee stayed at the wheel and watched as Chuck gave Kenny the bottle without saying anything and sighed; today had been a crappy day.

He glanced up and seen a map from one of the holders and picked it up, glancing over it he seen it was a detailed map of Savannah, just what he needed for showing Clementine where they were going. Just as he pocketed it, Kenny came back in and nodded at him, before sitting down, "You and me ... fuck it. Let's just get to the ocean" Kenny said softly, looking back out of the window.

"Sounds like a plan to me," Lee sighed.

* * *

Alyssa sighed as she stood up straight, it had been a crappy day but before she headed into the boxcar, she noticed Ben looking even more nervous than usual, "Hey Ben?" she asked, walking up to him, "are you okay?"

He sighed and then leaned against his arm again, "It was me" he whispered.

"What?"

He looked up at her sadly "I was the one giving the bandits supplies."

Alyssa felt her heart thud against her chest hard, "What?" she repeated a little more angrier. When Ben remained quiet, she stepped around and stood close to him.

"It's all my fault," he said to her.

Alyssa shook her head and she sighed sadly "Jesus, Ben ..." she whispered.

"I know, they said they had my friend, that he was with them-"

"Just stop!" Alyssa interrupted him, running a hand through her hair thinking; if Kenny or Lee found out they would probably want to kick Ben off the train, especially Kenny, "Fuck, can we even trust you?"

"Yes," Ben gave her a pleading look, "I'm sorry."

"Why'd you have to go and tell me this?" Alyssa snapped "why?"

"I just-"

"No. Just ... don't tell anybody. You can't take any of it back so, don't okay?" she said trying to calm herself "you'll just make it worse."

"Okay," when Alyssa didn't move he looked hopeful, "you still wanna talk to me?"

Alyssa sighed, if Ben knew what would have happened before he made the deal, he wouldn't of done it, "Yeah, I do, you were only trying to help" she gave him a weak smile "let's just drop it for now, okay?"

"I was .. uh, thinking about talking to Kenny?" he seen Alyssa's expression and shook his head "I guess not."

"Ben, I'm deadly serious about you keeping your mistakes to yourself," Alyssa said, lowering her voice as Lee walked back into the boxcar, "Kenny is in a bad place right now, and does NOT need this, we need to keep him focused on a boat or who knows what he'll do."

"I know .."

"You get why, right?"

"I guess."

"You better."

* * *

Lee looked in Chuck's bag and saw a pair of scissors and picked them up, he glanced at Clementine who was still looking at the scenery and he sighed; she wasn't going to like this.

"Hey Clem," he smiled.

"Did you talk to him?" she asked glancing around, "you didn't get mad did you?"

"I did talk to him, but I didn't get mad. He ... uh, explained himself and made some good points," she frowned confused at him "look, we're not going to let anything bad happen to you. But there are some precautions we have to take."

"Okay, yeah" she said completely trusting of him, "that makes sense."

"Don't worry about it sweet heart," Lee said, patting her hat.

She smiled and nodded at him, "What should we do?"

"Well, we're going to figure out a plan for when we get to Savannah, teach you how to protect yourself and .. uh ... tidy you up a little so you can't get grabbed so easily."

Clementine thought about it before she nodded "I'd like that."

Lee nodded back and stood up, "You need to know how to protect yourself," he said firmly.

"Like hiding or running away?" Clementine asked as she stood up also, "got it."

"I mean with one of these," Lee said bringing out his gun, Clementine gave it a wary look and he smiled at her, "first, don't be afraid of it. It's just a thing. Take it" he held it out and she nervously took it out of his hands "but know where your finger is all the time. And don't put it on the trigger unless you want to hurt somebody."

Clementine nodded, taking in everything Lee had said, "Okay, okay," she muttered.

"See, it's not scary."

"It's heavy!"

"You'll get stronger," Lee told her, he kneeled down and pointed to the top of the gun "to aim, you look right down the top, through that notch" Clementine turned around and Lee helped her stand correctly "line up the site at the end with your target."

Clementine looked around at him, "Is there anything else I should know?"

"Squeeze the trigger, steadily, okay?" he told her "don't give it a quick yank or pull."

"Steady, I can do that" Clementine said determinedly.

Lee nodded at her proudly, "Everytime, it'll be tough but just remember to do that and you'll hit what you're aiming at."

"Okay, I'm ready" she smiled.

Lee walked over and picked up an empty bottle and placed it on the box, "Okay, let's do some target shooting, pretend there walkers" he smiled at the young girl, who nodded at him.

* * *

Alyssa walked into the boxcar still thrown at what Ben had told her, and seen Lee sitting behind Clementine with a pair of scissors in his hand, "What's going on here?" she asked, smiling a little, "Lee's secretly a hairdresser?"

"Alyssa!" Clementine looked worried, "does it look dumb? I need to cut my hair."

"No, no, he's doing a good job," Alyssa said quickly, it was true, at least she didn't have any bald patches, "so why does she need her hair cut?"

"So no walkers can grab her quite so easily," Lee said.

Alyssa smiled "Ahh, been talking to Chuck have you?" she asked "he told me to tie my hair back into a bun, or cut it."

"Want me to cut yours too?"

"I'll trim a bit off mabye but I'm not going really short," Alyssa said, she shrugged at Lee's look, "I've always loved my long hair, it's the one thing I have now, can't do my nails, make-up or anything. It's the one thing that I can still style and feel pretty with, so call me vain, but I'll keep it tied up."

Lee felt sad, Alyssa never complained about the lack of stuff, even about the loss of electricity and showers, even when Mark died she kept her problems to herself and became a little withdrawn into herself so if keeping her hair long kept her sane, then he would allow her to have it.

"I'm going to look like a boy," Clementine muttered depressingly.

"Shush, now," Lee said, continuing to shorten her hair "you won't."

There was silence and Alyssa sat next to Clementine and held her hand while Lee cut her hair, "So you did kill someone before."

Alyssa and Lee shared a worried look at Clementine's comment and Lee sighed, "Yep, I did."

"I'm glad you finally told me" she said softly.

"Me too."

"You've killed lot's of things now, so has Alyssa and Kenny, it doesn't even matter."

"No, Clem," Lee shook his head "it's different."

"But you do it now to protect yourself," Clementine pointed out, "and me and Alyssa."

"I was sent to jail."

"Did people ever go to jail when they shouldn't?" Clementine asked.

Alyssa snorted "All the time, Clem, all the time."

Lee chuckled lightly and nodded "Okay, I think I'm about done. I can probably tie these pieces back with something."

Clementine reached into her pocket and brought out hair ties, "Here, I have some hair thingies."

"You do?" Alyssa asked, "where did you get them?"

"Uh, yeah. Lilly gave them to me for sleeping."

Lee took them off of her and tied back the last strands of hair into two bobs, "There, all set" he told her. Clementine felt her hair and then her head drooped.

"Does it look dumb?" she asked sadly.

"You suit your hair like that," Alyssa said patting her head "I like it."

"Ha, no, it doesn't look dumb sweet pea," Lee smiled handing her her cap "you look cute and a lot harder to grab."

He sat down on the floor and waved both girls over, "I want to talk about Savannah," he said to them seriously.

"Me too!" Clementine said and Alyssa knew she wanted to look for her parents. She wondered if her mother would be there also, her aunt and uncle stayed in Savannah and when her mum left she was flat broke, her father always said she'd come crawling back but she never did. Not that she wanted her too, she abandoned her.

"And what we're going to do when we get there," Lee said, bringing out the map and laying it on the ground "we don't know what to expect - the city could be bad or totally under control."

"I hope it's the latter," Alyssa murmured "I'm tired of fighting."

"The thing is, the three of us, we're a team, you know?" Lee said smiling at both of them, which they weakly returned "and a team needs a plan. Aside from everyone else, when this train stops, us three should know exactly what we're doing."

Clementine nodded, "A plan, I like it."

"We need to help find a boat," Alyssa pointed out, "it's our best bet at safety, walkers can't swim and we have a professional fisherman with us."

"Good point," Lee nodded "we can make our way to the docks and see what there is."

"Okay, but we'll be IN Savannah and my parents were in Savannah" Clementine told them urgently.

"I know, look-"

"No, I don't care about safety" Clementine said shaking her head "I care about finding them!"

Lee knew she was a flight risk, especially if he took his eyes off of her for one second, he had to be honest with her-

"They're dead Clementine," Alyssa said quietly, "you're Dad got bit and they were in the middle of a riot, I heard it on the phone message."

"They're not dead!" she snapped at Alyssa "do you want them to be?" and she began to cry.

Lee looked at Alyssa and gave her a sad smile and she nodded back, "We're following through with the boat Clementine," he said firmly "but we'll look for your parents first" when she didn't move he sighed "come here, hon."

Alyssa watched as he comforted her while she cried and felt bad for what she had said but she didn't want Clem full of false hope that her parents were still alive, Lee had told her about the message and she knew there was no chance in hell that they were still alive unless there were no walkers at all in Savannah.

"I'm sorry Clem," Alyssa said, rubbing her shoulder "don't cry."

"If ... we don't find them, then lets get on the boat. If we do, they can come with us" she said, tears still clinging to her eyelashes.

"Okay," Lee said sadly "that's the plan" he glanced down at the map and pointed to it, "looks like we'll come right through town if there's nothing on the tracks to hold us up."

"Best place to look for a boat would be here then," Alyssa said, pointing at the map as well, "and from there, we've got all of Savannah to the southwest of us."

"Now, we've got a good chunk of Savannah here. What do you think?" Lee asked Clementine, who peered at the map.

"They always stay in the same place when they go there" Clem said, frowning as she thought hard, "it's .. uh ... hmmm."

"Hey, don't worry kiddo, we'll figure it out" Alyssa said, squinting at the map, "what does it start with?"

"It's called the M..M something" Clementine said finally "... Mar..."

Alyssa and Lee read along the hotels beginning with 'm' and saw one, "Is this it?" Lee asked "the Marsh House?"

"Yes!" Clementine said excitedly "that's it!"

"So we'll head there, before the docks?" Alyssa asked Lee, he could tell from her tone she didn't like this idea.

"Yes!" Clementine said happily.

Lee smiled at Clementine "You think we have a good plan?"

"I think it's very good," she said wiping her eyes and smiling at him, she picked up her walkie-talkie and glanced at Lee, "can I tell my parents? You know ..."

"Clem, come on," Alyssa said suddenly sounding angry, "that's not a good idea."

"You can't tell me what to do," the little girl said quietly to Alyssa.

"Clementine!" Alyssa narrowed her eyes at her.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore," she replied, not looking at Alyssa.

Lee glanced at Alyssa who mouther, 'Later' at him and he nodded, "I guess we should see how far-"

"OH SHIT! HOLD ON EVERYBODY!" Kenny shouted from the front, and Lee grabbed the girls tightly as the train suddenly screeched to a halt.


	27. Long Road Ahead: Chapter Nine

As Alyssa jumped down from the boxcar, she felt her heart stop beating as she seen what had made Kenny stop so suddenly. Gleaming in the afternoon sun was a large tanker hanging precariously off of the road above them, hanging right over the tracks.

Kenny climbed down the ladders and glared up at it, "Fuck .. fuck! FUCK FUCUUUK!" he shouted, kicking the ground hard.

"Mabye we could walk?" Ben suggested nervously.

Kenny didn't even look at him, "That's fucking stupid, Ben" he said bitterly.

"I'm just sayin' ..." Ben mumbled, and Alyssa walked up to him and squeezed his shoulder.

"He's just angry at the tanker," she whispered "not at you."

Chuck folded his arms and looked up at the giant tanker, "Hmm. I dunno; I ain't got much experience with ya'lls fortitude but we could probably deal with that," he said "we got a goddamn train."

"That thing's not full of milk, Charles" Kenny said sarcastically "that's gas or diesel; somethin that's going to explode."

"YOU gotta get ahold of yourself. This is a crew here" Chuck said raising an eyebrow at Kenny, who walked close to him and shook his head.

"This ain't shit."

"This-"

"YO!" a male voice shouted out from the road and they all looked up to see two people standing on the bridge, "you keep screaming like that and you're gonna get your face chewed off."

"Are you guys going to be trouble?" the female put a hand on her hip "because we could've just kept walking."

"No we're friendly," Lee said walking forward, he noticed Kenny reaching for his gun and shook his head, "put your hand down, Ken."

"That's what everybody says," the female said, sounding a little sarcastic.

"We know," Alyssa said rolling her eyes.

The man looked down at the them, "You guys got a problem with your train?"

"Yeah, you're standing right in front of it" Kenny said dully.

"Dude, it's a wreck. It's not so bad from up here" the man said glancing around the tanker "send your buddy up to have a look."

Lee went to walk towards the ladder but Kenny stopped him, "Anything goes sideways up there, we won't let them escape" he said in a dangerous tone.

Nodding gratefully at his friend, Lee walked to the ladders but before he started to climb, he glanced upwards "If I come up there," he shouted "you better not be murderers or thieves."

The woman glanced over the side at him, "I guess you'll have to find out" she said.

Lee shook his head and began to climb, as he got closer he heard some of their conversation;

"A group of guys is what we need!"

"They're what you think we need. We're doing fine!" the woman sounded pissed off at the mans suggestion.

"For now. What about when-"

"Stop it!"

Lee hoisted himself up and looked them over, they didn't look dangerous. "Hey dude, I'm Omid" the man said noticing him and gave him a smile.

"Lee."

"Christa," she frowned at him, "what's the deal with the train?"

"We're driving it," Lee said simply.

"Oh man," Omid looked excited as kid on Christmas morning and Christa rolled her eyes at him.

Lee sighed, they shouldn't waste anymore time, "Look, you want to help us out? We could use some able bodies and .. yeah, we really need some help."

"What's in it-" Christa began to say but she stopped when she seen Clementine begin to climb up after Lee.

"Oh shit!" Omid smiled at her "goddamn, you guys have a kid!" Lee frowned in confusement and turned to see Clementine stand there in front of him.

"What are you doing up here?" he asked, "where's Alyssa?"

"Do you know how ling it's been since I've seena kid? Shit! What's your name?" he asked Clementine happily.

"Clementine," she said smiling as she stepped forward.

"Oh so he gets to swear," Lee muttered "just great."

"Well this is great," Omid grinned, he poked Christa's shoulder "see, things are looking up."

Christa narrowed her eyes at Lee, "You're not her Dad, he down there?"

"It's that obvious," Lee joked, glancing at Clementine who smiled back at him.

"To me," Christa replied.

"And no, he's not down there," Lee said quietly.

Christa glanced again at Clementine and put a hand on her hip, "Hmm. What's your story?"

Lee knelt down to Clementine's height and she walked over and hugged him, "I came across Clementine and Alyssa, the teenager down there, alone the first day all of this happened. I was actually incarcerated."

"Sick," Omid said sounding impressed, "do you have any prison tats?"

"I didn't make it that far," Lee explained.

Christa pursed her lips and glanced down at the rest of Lee's group, "And everybody down there, they're cool?"

Lee walked over and glanced down at them too, "W just met Chuck and Ben is young and joined our group a couple of months ago after his camp got raided by bandits. Kenny's been with us from the start, he lost his wife and kid" he added sadly.

"Man, how long ago?" Omid asked sympathetically.

"What time is it?"

"I don't know, four?"

"Two hours ago, mabye."

"Goddamn," Christa said sadly, her face full of sadness.

Omid nodded at Lee, "We're sorry for anything that's happened to you guys" he couldn't help but give the train an admiring look, "that train is awesome though."

Christa glanced at the tanker, "That tank is your real problem, we'll help you with it, but if we see anything we don't like. We're moving on down the road. Alone" she added with a raised eyebrow.

"We'd appreciate the help" Lee smiled.

"You can't just blast through it, I guess?" Omid asked.

Christa shook her head at him, "If you could get it down, the rest would probably be pretty easy" she told Lee "we'll come down and settle in, and see if we can help."

Alyssa pushed off of the train once she seen Lee and the two strangers climb down with Clementine from the bridge, she gave Kenny a wary look and he nodded back, one hand on their guns.

"Guys, this is Omid and Christa," Lee said, giving Kenny and Alyssa a warning look who grudgingly took their hands off of their guns. The rest of the group stayed silent, and Lee sighed.

Omid rubbed the back of his neck embarresedly "Not big on welcomes ..." he muttered to Lee.

"Like I said," Lee replied "we could use some good people."

"We just wanted to say hi," Omid said in a friendly voice "and tell you your train is pretty cool."

"But we're not looking for charity," Christa told him firmly.

"We could help you guys though," Omid said after shooting Christa a look "so yeah ... hi ... again."

"These two joining us?" Alyssa asked, folding her arms.

"We'll see about that," Christa retorted.

Chuck glanced at both of them, "Gotta be careful about newcomers, I say."

"We accepted you pretty easy," Alyssa said, smiling at him, she glanced at Omid and Christa, "but I'm not getting a bad vibe from them."

"You want to start in on that tanker?" Omid asked Lee.

Christa stepped forward "I'll get to know the girl for a minute, if you don't mind" Lee shook his head.

"Not at all."

Kenny sighed and rubbed his face "And why don't I show you how this thing works, in case something happens" he said in a tired voice.

"Really, Ken?" Lee asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's probably for the best," Kenny said, climbing up the ladder on the side of the train, "and somebody might want to have a look inside of that station back there, too."

"Sounds great, let's do this thing," Omid said excitedly.

"Ben on watch huh?" Alyssa asked Lee, as he stood watching the train tracks behind them.

Lee glanced up at the boy, who was watching nervously all around. "Yeah, I'm not sure about it either," Lee said quietly, "he hates walkers, they terrify him."

"They terrify me," Alyssa said sadly, "everyone even, so are you gonna go and check out the station house?"

"Yeah, I'll check in on Clementine and then head along," Lee glanced up at Ben again, "mabye you should go up there and keep him calm, we need to know if something sneaks up on us."

"Sure thing," Alyssa said, walking towards the train, "I'll keep an eye on Kenny too."

Lee watched her go and smiled, she was some girl, he remembered the spat between her and Clem on the train and made a note to ask her what is was about when they got moving again, he walked over to Clementine and Christa and noticed they looked completely relaxed, chatting in the sun, just like she had been with Katjaa on Hershel's farm; that seemed like a lifetime ago now.

"You interrogating this woman for us?" he joked, kneeling down in front of her.

"Yep," Clementine said, nodding seriously at him.

Lee smiled "She set off any alarm bells?"

"Not yet."

Christa laughed "She's very thorough."

"That's what I like to hear," Lee nodded and stood up, he began walking towards the seemingly abandoned station house when he heard footsteps behind him and saw Clementine stand in her red hoodie.

"Can I follow you over there?" she asked.

Lee raised an eyebrow, "You don't like the new girl?" he asked her as he knelt down beside her again.

"I do," Clem nodded "but .. it's like we're a team. Like you said."

"Yeah, all right," Lee remembered what Chuck had said; he couldn't think of her as a little girl anymore, "come on" he stood up and waved over at the group "Clementine and I are checking out this train station, all right? Hustle over if you hear anything."

* * *

"Learning the ropes?" Alyssa asked Omid as she passed through the cabin, "can't be too hard, right?"

Omid looked excited "There are a lot of levers I can't wait to use."

"I said if something WERE to happen to me," Kenny said annoyed, reminding him.

"Mabye we can drive in shifts?" Omid suggested.

Kenny looked back at the controls and sighed, "We'll see."

Alyssa gave him a worried look, but shook her head; now wasn't the time. "How have you two made it this far? You seem dangerously normal."

"Christa doesn't let us join groups," Omid told her, "and I'm a fucking scrapper."

Alyssa grinned, "I got the feeling that she takes care of you."

"Please," Omid snorted "I've saved her ass hundreds ...tens...some times" he finally admitted.

"Enjoy the lesson," she nodded, "just going to keep watch with Ben."

Kenny glanced her way, "Be careful," he said.

Exiting the cabin, she walked along and went up the ladder to join Ben on the roof of the train, it was a good view from up here, they would be able to see anything coming at them. "Well, we got a clear visual from up here," she said walking up to him.

"Yeah, we're good for a ways" Ben replied, continually scanning the area, "thank God."

"You okay?" she asked, as he sat down with his feet dangling over the egde, "you seem uneasy."

"We need someone, anyone, to come along and ...and... exterminate them or something" Ben said quietly, and Alyssa knew he was talking about the walkers.

"No shit," she nodded "walkers ... could do without them in a heartbeat. You know, sometimes you might see Lee, Kenny or I take care of one because we have too, but don't start thinking they don't horrify us."

"I'm glad other people feel that way," Ben shuddered, then looked at her deadly serious, "I'm telling you Alyssa, if they ever get a HOLD of me . and I know I'm not getting out of it ... that's it, man. I'm just gonna ... punch my own ticket."

Alyssa was silent for a moment, "... punch your own ticket?"

"You know, take myself out?" Ben explained.

Alyssa shook her head and patted his head, "Don't be dramatic and don't let them get a hold of you."

* * *

The station house looked pretty abandoned but Lee still remained on his guard as he walked up to the entrance, it was only then he realised Clementine wasn't behind him and he saw that she was trying to open the front door herself.

"You should wait for me before trying to open doors" Lee told her firmly.

Clementine hung her head, "Sorry."

"Luckily it's locked. We'll get better at working together" Lee smiled at her, she returned his smile with one of her own and moved out of the way so he could try and push the door open. He realised it wouldn't budge and rolled his eyes, catching sight of the open window above the door. "The window's open up there" he said out loud.

"Mabye I could look in?" Clementine said walking forward.

Lee nodded and stepped back, "Why don't I put you on my shoulders and you can peek into that window up there."

"Sounds good," Clementine smiled and walked up to him.

Lee hoisted her up to stand on his shoulders, and she peered into the dark station house. "Okay, I can see in," she said from above him, "what do I do now?"

Lee sighed, "Getting this door open is going to be tough."

"It might not be that hard."

"Mabye we can find the key or figure out a way to knock this door down?" he said thinking out loud, "Kenny'd probably have me pick the lock .. which actually might work now that we have the time-"

"I think I opened it," Clem said, interrupting him.

"For real?" Lee asked surprised.

"I think so."

Slowly lowering her to the floor, Lee tried the handle again and was relieved to see it open easily now. "Well, I'll be damned," he said nodding proudly at Clementine who smiled, "you did it sweet pea."

"Let's go," Clem said raising an eyebrow "be careful."

"I'm supposed to tell you that," Lee said amused.

Inside it was incredibly dark and Lee couldn't make out anything and noticed Clementine stay close to him as the door closed slowly behind them. "Goddamn, it's dark in here" Lee said quietly.

"Mabye I can hold the door open?" Clem suggested nervously, obviously not liking the dark.

Lee shook his head, "I don't like that. I'll prop it open with something."

Relunctantly giving up his weapon, he put down the monkey wrench in front of the door, propping it open and allowing sunshine to light up the station house. He could see it was very basic and that there was no survivors inside as the sign on the roof said, in the corner he noticed a blowtorch and sighed; that was exactly what they needed.

He seen that the cage door was locked up good and that he couldn't simply open the door and get the blowtorch that way, the only way into the cage was the spacing above the door. "We're lucky I'm so little" Clementine said, looking up at the spacing.

"You okay going over the top of this fence?" Lee asked the younger girl.

She nodded and gave him another smile, "Yeah, definitely."

Again, he put Clementine on his shoulders and helped her to swing over the spacing and watched as she climbed down easily and stood in front of him on the other side. "Go on and grab the keys, Clem" he told her, he noticed her stiffen and look behind him, "go on now, scoot" he added.

She took a step backwards with her face full of fear and he frowned; something was wrong.

"BEHIND YOU!"


	28. Long Road Ahead: Chapter Ten

The walker came staggering towards Lee, it's arms outstretched and it's mouth snarling at him. He lined up his gun but before he could fire, another walker came at him from the side and to stop it from sinking it's jaws into his arm, he dropped the gun and pushed it away from him and began to back away to the door.

He glanced behind and picked up the monkey wrench, and braced himself as the station house slowly desceneded into darkness. He smacked one walker across the face and quickly brought it back, smashing the head and it fell to the ground.

The other caught him off guard and he grabbed it's hands and tried to hold it off of him. He just managed to push it away and use the monkey wrench hard on it's head, killing it instantly.

Panting, he leaned heavily on his legs as his heart stopped racing and he caught his breath, glancing up he saw Clementine stand frozen with the gun in her hands, unable to fire. "It's okay ...it's okay...everything's fine," Lee said trying to comfort her, she lowered the gun and shook a little from what had happened. Hearing a rasping sound, Lee glanced along and saw to his horror, a shape moving in the darkness; Clementine was trapped in the cage with a walker.

"KEYS! NOW!" he shouted and she ran over to the holder and frantically held them out to him. He quickly unlocked the door, held Clementine to him and took the gun off of her. The walker didn't get to take one more step before Lee shot it in the brain.

"God...damn," he sighed, holding his head.

"That didn't go so good," Clementine said sadly.

Lee shook his head, "No, it did not go so good," he smiled at her and put a hand on her shoulder, "but we're okay, everything's okay."

Clemetine nodded and smiled back when they heard Christa's voice on the other side of the door, "What's going on? I thought I heard a gunshot."

"We're fine," Lee said as she came through the door and looked around; eyebrow raised. She took in the dead walkers and frowned at Lee, "we found some walkers," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You and an eight year old versus three of them, huh?" she asked, walking over to them both.

Clementine gave him a nervous glance, and he narrowed his eyes at Christa "We handled it."

"Yeah, it looks like," she said still sounding annoyed with him, "what if you hadn't?" Lee glared at her and she frowned back at him "I'm going to go make sure the noise didn't cause us any problems."

"That's a good idea," Clementine told her. Christa smiled down at her and headed to the door of the station house without looking at Lee, but at the last moment turned to him, "I hope you know what you're doing with her" she said quietly.

Lee felt annoyed with her as well as himself, "We're still alive, aren't we?" he said a little heatedly.

"Yeah, you are," she replied and walked out of the station house.

He bit back his retort and sighed, "You sure you're okay?" he asked Clementine who still looked a little nervous.

"Yeah, I'm a little shaky," she admitted.

Lee patted her head, "It'll pass, don't worry."

Walking past Clementine, he headed through to the back of the cage and picked up the blowtorch; this would certainly help with getting rid of the tanker. "We got it," he whispered to himself, "we got this."

"Let's go outside now," Clementine said, still not liking the dark and Lee could tell she was still annoyed at how she froze.

"What did we learn?" he asked her suddenly.

Her head drooped as did her shoulders, "I'm not ready for a gun?" she said sadly.

"We learned not to be afraid," Lee said shaking his head at her, "they shoulda got us, but we got them."

Her face brightened up and she smiled up at him, "Yeah, you're right!"

"Fear is the thing that will kill us, you understand?" Clementine nodded, "good, let's get back to the train."

* * *

Alyssa sighed with relief when Clem and Lee came back out from the station house, when they had heard the gunshot, she was about to run over but Christa told her to stay on watch and she would go. Feeling a bit annoyed, she did as she was asked but watched like a hawk for any signs of trouble.

"Find anything?" she called down to Lee.

He nodded and pointed to the thing in front of him, "I found a blowtorch in the station," Omid came out at this point and looked excitedly at the blowtorch, "should make quick work of the coupling up there."

"Good job," Alyssa glanced at Clementine, who was sat back down talking to Christa, "she okay?"

"Yeah, a little shaky but we handled it," Lee sounded a little annoyed so Alyssa dropped it.

"I'll come up there with you to have a look," Omid said walking towards Lee. Alyssa watched as they carefully carried the blowtorch to the ladder and began climbing it slowly.

"Think Lee will be able to sort it out?" Ben asked her, walking down the train.

Alyssa sighed, "I hope so," she glanced around warily, "I can't help but get the feeling something's gonna happen."

* * *

Lee placed the blowtorch down in front of the tanker and turned the nozzle slightly but frowned when nothing happened, "Shit!" he cursed, standing up straight.

"What's up?" Omid asked.

"The hose has a leak in it."

"Turn it off dude!" Omid said sounding a little panicky "I don't want my eyebrows burned off!"

Lee rolled his eyes but turned it off and sighed; what the hell was he going to do now?

"Better plug that leak with something," Omid said.

Looking around, Lee noticed a rescue truck sitting on the motorway and was happy to see the back hadn't been locked, inside were road signs and luckily he moved some out of the way and seen some thick yellow tape; hopefully it would work on the blowtorch hose. It was the only useful thing in there.

* * *

Alyssa watched the back of them, while Ben had a break and swore she could hear something, squinting her eyes and holding her hand up to shield herself from the sun, she tried to make out if anything was coming in the distance but all she could see was dust and nothing else.

"Do you hear anything?" she asked Ben.

He shook his head, "No, just Chuck playing his guitar, why?"

She slowly lowered her hand but didn't move from her spot, "No reason."

* * *

"Hope this holds!" Lee muttered, after sellotaping the hole shut with a lot of yellow tape. He turned the nozzle again and was glad when this time there was a flame at the end, the tape had done it's job.

He used one hand to lean against the tanker and began to cut at the coupling holding it together, turning his head so the sparks wouldn't get to him, "That is crazy!" Omid said in awe "look at it go!"

"Just about got it," Lee said, feeling it get looser.

There was a grinding noise but Lee could hardly hear it over the blowtorch and was surprised when Omid grabbed him and pulled him back, just in time for him to see the tanker roll backward and he knew if Omid hadn't of been there, he would have been squished or pushed off of the motorway and fallen to his death.

"Whoa, thanks," he said, getting to his feet again.

Omid nodded, "No sweat, man."

Lee looked annoyed at the coupling, he had nearly got it as well, "This things hanging by a thread. The smallest cut and it'll go" he glanced over and saw it was out of his reach and passed the hose to Omid, "here, the weak portion of the coupling is out of my reach."

"You think it'll be within mine?" Omid said sarcastically, not accepting the hose off of Lee.

Lee snorted, "No, but I'm gonna dangle you over that ledge."

"The hell you are!" Omid frowned at him but one look from Lee and soon Omid was leaning over, with Lee holding onto him, cutting away at the coupling, "God, you're a real son of a bitch, aren't you," Omid grumbled.

"Shut up and start cutting!"

* * *

Alyssa heard the noise again and glanced back and saw what looked like a crowd of walkers kicking up dust as they made a beeline for the train, widening her eyes she quickly grabbed Ben and shouted to the others, "Guys! There's something coming!"

Ben seen what she had and his face paled, "WE GOTTA GO!" he shouted, running down the train with Alyssa towards the ladder.

Alyssa glanced up at Lee and Omid and her heart started thudding, "LEE!" she shouted, "HURRY UP!"

* * *

Lee glanced down and saw the herd of walkers come towards them, "There must be thousands," he started to become worried, "fuck, Omid, cut. CUT!"

"I AM!" there was a groaning noise as the coupling started to fall loose, "IT'S GOING, PULL ME UP!" Omid shouted.

There was a loud crash and the tanker fell to the side, breaking off the ladder that Lee and Omid had climbed up but thankfully left room for the train to get past, although Lee noticed some petrol had begun to leak out. "KENNY, GO!" he shouted down.

Everyone ran to the train and Lee thanked God that Christa made sure Clementine was the first one on, the train began to move forward and Lee let out a shaky breath, knowing what had to happen now.

"Shit!" Omid cursed, "what the hell do we do now?"

Lee ran to the other side of the road, and stepped over the railings, "We gotta jump!" he said, looking down and waiting for the boxcar to go by.

Omid's eyes widened "What?!" he shouted, "no way!" as he saw that Lee was serious, he nervously stepped over the railings too, "I can't do this, I can't do this!"

Lee didn't want to push him incase he fell awkwardly and decided to goad him, "Fine, you stay here and we'll go with your lady!" he snapped.

"The hell you will!" Omid said angryily, and jumped down but didn't manage to grab the side and fell off the train and landed on the ground.

Lee jumped quickly and groaned as he hit the hard roof, but seen Christa jump off the side and run towards Omid, dragging him to his feet, sliding down the side, Lee quickly got to the end of the boxcar and held out his hand as they ran alongside the train.

"RUN!" Christa screamed as the walkers weren't that far behind, seeing that Omid was grabbing his leg and looked severley in pain, he grabbed for him first and helped him into the boxcar, but before he could get to Christa, she had fallen behind.

"No! HER!" Omid shouted sitting up looking terrified, "NOT ME! CHRISTA NO! FUCK!" he glared at Lee, "you piece of shit! She's a woman! Don't you know-"

He stopped when he seen Christa catch up and jump onto the train, she smiled at him as she caught her breath, "It's okay, honey. I'm okay" she said.

Lee stood up and looked out behind them, it was unbelievable just how many walkers were behind them. "That...was a LOT... of them" Omid said, lying back and trying to catch his breath.

Clementine opened the door and gave Lee a worried look, "Are you hurt?" she asked.

"No, we're okay," Lee assured her.

Omid shot him an annoyed look, "Speak for yourself," he snapped "my legs fucked."

"We're fine, Clementine" Christa said firmly, giving Omid an annoyed look, "we're fine."

* * *

As Savannah came into view, Alyssa couldn't help but feel relieved after seeing how much attention this train had drawn, she couldn't wait to get off of it. She was up front with Lee and Clementine, who had falled asleep on the extra chair, she smiled at her and then caught Lee looking at her, and her smile grew; she didn't what she would do without him.

Looking down, Alyssa seen a picture hanging out of Clementine's bag and picked it up, slowly, not wanting to wake the young girl up. It was a drawing Clem had done of Kenny, Katjaa and Duck all holding hands. She looked sadly at it and sighed; it was hard to believe that they were both gone, just like most of the group.

Kenny came back in and she put it back and straightened up, as he came over to stand beside her, "Next stop, the Atlantic," he said, his voice full of hope.

Lee nodded and looked out the window, "We have to find a boat, we just have too."

"We will," Alyssa said firmly, "I know we will."

There was silence before Lee put a hand on Kenny's shoulder, "You'll be alright," he said quietly to the man who had become his friend through all of this.

"I'll be alive, I guess" Kenny replied sadly, "blood in my heart, blood in my brain at least."

Lee nodded again, "I'll leave you to your thoughts," he walked over and smiled down at Clementine who was sleeping soundly, "she's out cold like I never seen," Lee said.

There was a strange noise and Alyssa frowned at Clementine's bag where it had came from, "What the hell was that?" she asked.

Lee knelt down and brought out Clementine's walkie-talkie and his eyes widened when it made a clicking noise and a voice began to speak, "Helll...oo...o there?..."

"What the..." Lee whispered.

"Can't wait for you to get to Savannah, Clementine. I've got your parents right here, and you be sure to find me whether Lee or Alyssa wants you to or not. Now, what I need-" it clicked off as the signal went and there was silence in the cabin.

"Holy shit!" Alyssa said quietly.

Kenny's eyebrows were raised as he looked at the other two, "I thought that fucking thing was broken..."

"So did I," Lee looked shocked.

"She's been talking on it nearly everyday, and I'm sure I heard a click but she swore it was broken," Alyssa frowned "that's why I didn't let her 'talk to her parents' about going to Savannah, I should have said something Lee," she added guiltily "I'm sorry."

"No, Clementine should have been honest," Lee said shaking his head, "don't be sorry."

"Well," Kenny looked out the window frowning "it sounds like somebody knows where we're headed."

"Who the fuck-" Lee started sounding very angry.

"I don't know," Kenny answered him, "but I doubt we're gonna be happy when we find out."


	29. Around Every Corner: Chapter One

**WALKING DEAD: AROUND EVERY CORNER**

_Chapter One_

The streets of Savannah were eerily empty and there was not a sound, not even a walkers growling, stranded cars lay about the streets looking ransacked and rusted. As Alyssa followed Kenny with her gun in her hand, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand as she got nervous; what kind of place in this world didn't even have walkers, there must have been thousands of people in Savannah, where were they?

They continued down the street to where Kenny had said would lead them to the river, Omid limped on in pain with Christa keeping both an eye on the road and him, while Ben followed Kenny and Alyssa continually glancing behind them, Chuck walked alone with a shovel he had found and Lee strode at his own pace; with Clementine's radio on his belt.

"Can't I just hold it?" Alyssa heard her ask Lee pleadingly "just for a little while? We're getting real close to where my mum and dad are, mabye we can-"

"I already told you no," Lee interrupted her sternly, "don't ask me again, okay?"

Christa glanced back and frowned at Lee, "What's the harm in letting her have it?" she asked "it doesn't even work."

"You take care of yours, let me take care of mine," Lee snapped at her angryily.

Christa turned back around "Sorry I spoke."

Alyssa glanced at Omid, who was pale and sweating slightly from walking on his bad leg, "How's Omid?" she asked Christa, trying to diffuse the tension between her and Lee.

"His legs pretty bad," she replied sounding worried.

Omid shook his head at both of them, "I'm fine" he said irritatedly.

"You're not fine!" Christa hissed "you need to rest," she looked towards Lee annoyed "he needs to rest."

"It's not safe to stop out here in the open, we need to keep moving," he said, "he can rest after we find a boat and get out on the water."

Christa shook her head, "I don't know how much longer he can keep on like this. If his leg gets any worse we're going to have to carry him."

"Or leave him," Kenny said from the front.

"What!" Christa snapped, "no. That is not an option, we can't-"

"Lady, I've known you for all of ..12 hours," Kenny interrupted her "you don't get to say 'we' uness you mean just you and him."

Christa looked furiously at the back of Kenny, "You know, since this all started. I've seen the best come out of a lot of people," she curled her lip, "and the worst come out of a lot of others. I guess we know which side you came down on."

"There you go again," Kenny said sarcastically "saying 'we' there is no 'we' there's 'us' and then you and your boyfriend slowing us down."

"Go to hell Kenny."

Kenny laughed "Ha! You taken a look around lately? It ain't that long a trip."

Alyssa shook her head, "Christa's right, we've all got to look out for each other," she said, to Kenny especially "so let's just keep the tempers in check and focus on getting a boat - all of us. How much farther?" she asked Kenny.

He frowned but didn't ignore her, "Should be just a few more blocks to the river front."

Suddenly there was a loud ringing of what sounded like a church bell and they all stopped and looked around. "What the hell?" Ben asked and Alyssa frowned as she looked around; what was happening?

"Mabye this city's not so dead after all..." Christa muttered.

The bell kept ringing, and Kenny turned to face the group, "Keep moving, no-one's ringing that bell, it's automatic, on a timer."

Alyssa wanted to believe him but Lee shook his head after checking his watch, "What kind of church bell goes off at twenty past the hour?" he asked.

Everyone was silent as the truth dawned on them that someone was ringing the bell, signalling their arrival or something worse; they wouldn't know. Alyssa glanced up at the tower and saw a shape move over the roof and disappear on the other side. "Someone's up there!" she cried out and everyone turned to look.

"Are you sure?" Ben asked, peering at the rooftops, "I don't see anything."

"HEY!" Alyssa shouted, walking forward, "HEY! YOU UP THERE!"

"Dammit Alyssa, keep quiet!" Christa muttered angryily at her, "you're gonna-"

The radio on Lee's belt made the strange noise again and all focus went onto the walkie-talkie, "If I were you," the voice warned "I'd get out of the street. Now."

"I thought you said that thing didn't work!" Christa accused Lee, who picked up the walkie-talkie and looked at it.

He ignored her and held down the button, "Hello?" he said, hoping for an answer, "hello, are you there?"

The voice didn't come back and Lee felt like he was being watched and didn't like it; everyone glanced around uneasily and on edge as the bells kept ringing.

"What the hell was that?" Omid asked finally, "is someone trying to fuck with us?"

"Sounded more like a warning," Ben said.

Chuck was silent before he spoke in a hollow voice, "Ask not for whom the bell tolls..." he said.

Kenny rolled his eyes, "What you yammerin' on about now?" but as he turned to see what Chuck was looking at, he froze as did everyone who turned at that point and Alyssa felt her heart beat fast as fear took over her.

"It tolls for thee ..."

_Chapter Two_


	30. Around Every Corner: Chapter Two

Out of nowhere, a large number of walkers came stumbling from around the corner and headed straight towards the group of survivors, the whole street became crowded as walkers came out of alleyways and other hidden places. The bell ringing clearly had brought them their way.

"EVERYBODY! RUN!" Lee shouted, grabbing ahold of Clementine and pulling her to him close as he began to run in the opposite direction.

They all followed him and began looking for a way to escape the walkers, Lee watched as Alyssa and Kenny brought out their weapons and began to shoot walkers that got too close. Chuck put his shovel to good use and Christa brought out a small gun, that Lee didn't know she had.

As Alyssa ran along the road, a walker half crept out from underneath a car and grabbed at her leg making her fall and drop her gun, "SHIT!" she shouted and kicked it hard in the head but it still didn't let go. There was a gunshot and it collapsed to the ground, finally letting go and Kenny was suddenly there, helping Alyssa to her feet.

"Little too close, don't ya think," he asked her, as they caught up with the others.

Alyssa gave him a grateful smile, "Thanks for saving me ...again."

Lee stood aiming at walkers heads and shooting them that came too close, he didn't notice Clementine slowly get surrounded next to Ben by walkers until he heard her cry out, "BEN!"

Turning, his heart stopped beating as he saw how many there were, "NO!" he shouted, "BEN HELP HER!" As the walkers came closer, Lee saw Ben's face pale and he suddenly broke into a sprint and left Clementine to the mercy of the walkers, biting back the anger, he raised his gun and began shooting as he advanced towards them. They weren't getting his girl.

He fired again but one came too close and he suddenly reacted by running towards her, "NO!" he shouted again fear stabbing him savagely.

There came a loud splat as Chuck appeared behind the walker and smashed it's head in with the shovel he had, it tried to get back up but he stabbed it in the stomach with the shovel and held it down. Lee grabbed Clementine and pulled her into a tight hug and sighed with relief, "Get her and Alyssa the hell out of here!" he said firmly "I'll catch up with ya!"

Lee glanced at him and he nodded determinedly at him, "Come on!" he said to Clem and they ran to join the others.

"Move your asses!" Kenny shouted, stopping to see where everyone was, "River Street's right up ahead!"

"That's not all..." Ben said in a terrified tone as more walkers advanced towards them from the other street.

"Oh, gimmie a fucking break!" Kenny shouted angryily.

Alyssa frowned, "Wait, where the hell's Chuck?" she asked quickly.

Lee glanced backwards and saw Chuck still fighting off the walkers with his shovel, he had a feeling the old man knew he wasn't going to catch up with them and it made his heart ache. "Shit!" Alyssa cursed, following Lee's line of sight, "he's in trouble, we gotta help him!"

The walkers were slowly advancing on them and if they didn't make the right move, they would be surrounded and not have a chance in hell of surviving. "There's no time!" Kenny said "we've gotta go, now!"

"I'll be fine!" Chuck shouted over to them, "just go!"

Taking the only route they could, away from River Street and away from the possibility of finding a boat, Alyssa just hoped that they would find sanctuary and that Chuck would be able to find them. Managing to lose the walkers by a street, Kenny led them through lanes and up a drive into what he hoped was an abandoned house. "I'll get the door!" he said, running towards it as Lee held the gate open and shut it quickly as everyone caught their breath inside the garden.

Omid fell to the ground and let out a painful cry as he landed on his bad leg, "You okay?" Lee asked quickly, going to his side and along with Christa helped him to sit up.

"Ugh...yeah," Omid groaned as he sat against the wall.

Christa kneeled down and looked at his leg, "You've opened up your wound, you're bleeding!" she said worriedly "Shit, that's gonna get infected. We've got to get him inside, clean him up!" she said to Lee, standing up straight.

Lee nodded and ran over to Kenny and Ben who were trying to find a way into the house. "Kenny? How's that door coming?" he asked him.

"I'm working on it, I'm working on it!" Kenny replied, checking over the door.

Christa folded her arms "Well, work faster would you!" she snapped "won't be long before those things outside figure out where we went, you know they can smell blood."

"Lady, I ain't the one whose bleeding!" Kenny snapped back just as angryily.

Alyssa walked between them and shook her head, "Would you two just quit it, arguing isn't helping us any!"

"Let me see if I can find us a way in," Lee said, putting a hand on Alyssa's shoulder, "look around and see if there's anything useful."

"On it," Alyssa nodded and left to go search around the garden.

Lee went up to the door, standing alongside Kenny and glanced down at the bottom of the door where there was a square design on the door, "What's this?" he wondered outloud "looks like there's some kind of pet door here."

"I tried it already," Ben said, from the bushes trying to see if he could get in via the windows, "that's locked too."

"Who the hell ever heard of a locked doggie door?" Kenny asked sarcastically.

"I have," Omid said from the wall, "my neighbour had one just like that, it's radio controlled. The dog wears a collar with a chip in it so the door only opens when the dog gets close to it."

"Well, shit," Kenny shook his head, "every day's a school day."

"All right, so ...where's the dog?" Ben asked hesitantly as if a zombiefied dog was going to come out of nowhere and attack them.

"Got a feeling it might be buried," Alyssa said, coming forward with a shovel in her hands.

Lee frowned, "What makes you say that?"

"The cross above the mound, next to the empty doggie house kinda gave it away," she said sarcastically, "found this shovel behind the shed, just gotta hope they buried the pooch with it's collar still on."

Lee sighed, "Here's hoping," he walked over to the mound of dirt and stood in front of it - he wished he didn't have to do this.

"Hey, be careful," Omid said nervously, "digging up dead things it's what it ued to be, know what I mean?"

Lee began to dig up the dog's grave, "Yeah, I hear you."

Everyone came over, hoping to see the collar so they could get into the safety of the house before the walkers found them again, Clementine stood next to Lee and bit her lip, "What's buried down there?" she asked.

Lee seen after shovelling a pile of dirt away, the remains of the dog and thankfully the collar to open the doggie door. "Nothing," he said, looking down at the little girl, "Clem, go over and sit with Christa and Omid, okay?"

"But I want to-"

"Just do what I say, okay?" Lee interrupted her firmly, she gave him a hurt look but did as she was told and sat with Christa and Omid, Lee waited till she was sitting down before shovelling some more and looking down at the skeleton of someone's pet dog.

"Oh god," Ben choked, covering his mouth "the smell."

Lee tentatively reached down and grabbed ahold of the collar, he was about to undo it when the spine snapped and the head seperated from the body and fell back into the grave. "Okay, that was gross," Alyssa retched and then took deep breaths.

Christa stood up and covered her mouth but couldn't stop herself from vomiting, "Are you okay?" Clementine asked her worriedly.

Christa wiped her mouth on her sleeve and stood up straight and tried to smile at Clementine, "I'm fine, honey, it's just the smell."

"Are you sure you're-"

"I said I'm fine, okay?" Christa said quickly, talking over Omid before he could say anything else.

Standing up, Lee quickly walked to the front door with Alyssa and Kenny behind him, he took a deep breath and hoped this was the kind of doggie door that Omid had been talking about or else he just dug up a dog's grave for nothing. Holding it to the panel, there was a clicking noise and the doggie door opened.

"YES!" Kenny quickly quietened himself but couldn't hide the excitement from his voice, "goddamn!"

Lee opened it cautiously and looked inside, "You see anything in there?" Ben asked him.

"No," Lee said, backing away and standing up, "looks like it's been empty a while."

Alyssa glanced around as the growls and snarls of the walkers sounded dangerously close, and Christa stood up slowly glancing at the wall, "Whatever you're going to do, do it fast!" she said scared.

"Okay, lemme see if I can reach up in there..." before Lee could say anymore, Clementine was on her hands and knees and went through the door and disappeared into the house. Stunned, he could only look at the doggie door and he just hoped it really was empty inside.

"Clem, are you okay?" Alyssa came up to the door and sounded incredibly worried, "say somethin'!"

There was no sound from inside and everyone shared a worried look, Lee was about ready to kick the door in, when there was the sound of the lock jiggling and the door swung open, Clementine came skipping out and smiled at them all, "Ta da!" she said happily.

Alyssa grinned "Good going kiddo!"

"Good job Clem!" Lee said looking proudly at her.

"Yeah, way to go," Ben chipped in.

The little girl looked at them all and smiled even more, "I did good, right?"

"Yes you did," Lee nodded "you did good."

Omid struggled to his feet, "Can we mabye have this conversation inside? My legs starting to hurt like hell."

Kenny was the first in the house and he looked about warily, "Looks okay from here, everybody in!" he called out.

Inside, the house looked very impressive, even without most of the furniture and was very modern but most importantly, so far, walker free. As soon as they were inside, Omid and Christa immediantly went over to the couch and she helped him lay down on it and he groaned out loud. "Sorry, sorry," she said quickly, shooting him an apologetic look.

"No it's okay," Omid said though gritted teeth, but he still forced a smile on his face "I'm good. Feel better already just being off my feet. Thanks babe."

Lee had just finished relocking the door when Christa came over to stand next to him, Kenny and Alyssa, "So, when were you going to tell us about the radio?" she asked angryily.

"Tell you what?" Kenny asked defensively.

"That it's working, that there's someone else on the other end of that thing," she looked at Lee a little hurt, "you didn't think of sharing that with the rest of us?"

"I was gonna tell you," Lee replied honestly, "Kenny, Alyssa and I only found out yesterday."

Christa put a hand on her hip and raised her eyebrow at him, "So you three were keeping it from the rest of us? Great."

"Who gives a shit about the damn radio?" Kenny snapped "I'm more worried about whoever it was out there ringing that bell and bringing the dead down on top of us! It's like they didn't want us to make it to the river."

"What makes you think it's not the same person?" Alyssa pointed out, "whoever was on the radio was close enough to see us in the street, and I know I seen someone in the bell tower.

Kenny shook his head at her, "Because that doesn't make a lick of damn sense. Why would they bring out the dead like that and then try to warn us about it?"

"How much sense does anything make anymore," Christa said "incase you haven't noticed, there's a lot of twisted folks out there!" Lee seen Alyssa stiffen and grow quiet, "at least the dead don't play games with you."

Lee nodded slowly, "I don't know who it was. All I know is, they're no friend of ours."

"Damn right!" Kenny said in agreement to Lee, "I'm telling you, they don't want us getting to the river. Mabye they want those boats all to themselves. Well, we'll see about that."

"I'm not going back out there so soon," Christa said quickly, "Omid needs to rest."

Lee glanced quickly at Alyssa and seen how tired and on edge she looked and he struggled to remember when she had last slept properly, "I think we could all use a little time to rest up and gather our thoughts, Kenny," he said, "at least until those walkers outside wander off, the girls get a little sleep and Omid's feeling better."

Kenny glanced at Alyssa and Lee knew he wouldn't argue after seeing her tired expression, "He'd best feel better, quick," he said finally, "I ain't gonna wait around here too long."

Ben came out from one room and looked around, "Place seems secure at least," he said.

"I'll feel better when we know that for sure," Christa said "we need to check the whole house."

"Alright fine, you and me'll take the upstairs," Kenny said pointing to himself and Ben, "Lee, you've got down here. Make sure you check every door, understand?"

"What about me?"

"Al' you go get some sleep," Kenny said, his tone softer, "I'm gonna need you in tip top shape if we're gonna go find a boat."

Alyssa nodded "I am pretty shattered," she admitted, "okay, but wake me if you need me. Don't let me sleep too long."

"I'll keep an eye on everyone else," Christa said, "but shout if you find something."

"Will do," Kenny nodded to both women and walked up the stairs with Ben following him, leaving Lee downstairs to check and make sure this place was safe.

"Please let there be no walkers," Lee whispered "I don't think I could take anymore."


	31. Around Every Corner: Chapter Three

Alyssa stretched out on the roof and sighed, "Hopefully I'll tan," she said quietly, "I'm sick of being pale."

Mark laughed and closed his eyes, enjoying the sun on his face, "Knowing your luck you'll just burn and be lobster red for the rest of the week."

Punching his arm, Alyssa turned on her side and propped her head up on her hand, "Y'know, I wouldn't have gotten this kind of cheek from Kenny or Lee," she said raising an eyebrow, "you didn't need to come with me."

Mark opened his eyes and grinned at her, "Yeah but you get something from me that you wouldn't from them," before Alyssa could say anything else, he pushed her on her back and smiled down a her.

"I'm starting to get an idea what that might be," she said teasingly as Mark started to kiss her neck, occasionaly nipping it.

"I can see us being happy together," Mark said softly, kissing her lips quickly, "even if we're on a roof in the sun while walkers are in the streets beneath us."

"Don't ruin it," Alyssa rolled her eyes, "I can pretend we're on a roof in Rio or something."

Mark chuckled "As my lady wishes," he winked and began to kiss her neck again...only he was nipping a bit harder than usual.

"Mark, you're starting to hurt," she hissed, but he ignored her and now began to bite her neck, "Mark, what the hell!" she pushed him away and froze when she seen he had become a walker. He snarled and then tried to tear a chunk out of her neck while she screamed-

Alyssa jerked awake and realised she had had a nightmare again, letting out a shaky breath, she sat up and rubbed her eyes. Noticing Christa and Clementine looking at her worriedly, she sighed. "Did I even sleep?"

"For about an hour," Christa said "more like a power nap then a sleep."

"Well, it's better than nothing" Alyssa muttered, running a hand through her hair, "did Lee or Kenny find anything?"

"Not yet," Lee said coming through to the living room, "I've nearly checked all the rooms down here," he glanced at Alyssa, "everything okay?"

Before Clem or Christa could tell him otherwise, she nodded, "Power nap does wonders," she smiled "anything I can do to help?"

"Why don't you have a look around and see if you can find any supplies or anything?" Lee waited till she was out of the room before he looked at Christa, "she didn't sleep, did she?"

"She had a nightmare I think," Christa said quietly, "shook in her sleep and muttered someone's name before jerking awake, does she have these a lot?"

"Yeah, too much for my liking," Lee sighed, "She's seen and been through a lot, but doesn't like to share her feelings," he glanced at Omid and changed the subject "how's that couch treating you Omid? Leg feeling better yet?"

"I'm all right," Omid said but looked like he was in a lot of pain.

"I feel you," Lee said, remembering when his leg was injured the day this all happened, it seemed like several lifetimes ago. Omid nodded in understanding but still looked uncomfortable. "Sit tight. I'll keep checking the first floor to make sure it's safe."

"Thanks Lee," Christa smiled weakly.

He quickly checked the doors in the living room, finding nothing but an empty cupboard and bathroom when he walked over to the last door in the hallway, getting his gun at the ready, he quickly opened the door and jumped when something fell out at him, "Jesus!" he cried out then felt foolish when he seen it was just a mop.

"What? What happened?" Clementine asked him, as Alyssa came out of the other room looking worried.

"It's nothing," Lee replied, rolling his eyes at his jumpiness, "just...nothing."

Alyssa caught sight of him putting the mop back and tried to bite back a smile, "Mop nearly get you, huh?" she smirked.

"Oh ha ha," Lee muttered, ignoring her laugh as she went back through to the kitchen, "well, the place ain't got much. We should be okay here for a while," he said to Christa as he went back through to the living room, "at least until it quiets down outside."

"Good, thanks," Christa said, sounding a little more happier with this information in mind.

Alyssa came through empty handed and shook her head at Lee, "Picked clean," she said "only food I found was of the canine kind and I don't think we've hit that yet," she glanced at Omid, who had managed to fall asleep, "is he okay?" she asked worriedly.

"Yeah, for now," Christa sighed, "but I'm really worried his leg might've gotten infected. Don't suppose you turned up any meds while you were poking around?" she asked Alyssa hopefully.

"Nah, just some whiskey on the dining room table" Alyssa sighed, "sorry."

Christa nodded, and then looked to Lee, "I was just asking Clementine if she knows who the man on her radio is," she smiled kindly down at the little girl, who shifted uncomfortably in her seat "it's okay, honey, you can tell us, who is he? What does he want?"

Lee knelt down beside her, "Go ahead, Clem. It's okay, you're not in any trouble."

Clementine was quiet then she shook her head, "It's...just a friend. I don't think he wants to hurt us" she said.

"What has he been saying to you?" Christa asked.

Alyssa stepped forward, looking a little angry "More importantly, what have you been saying to him?"

Clementine shot Alyssa a nervous look but answered their questions, "I told him I was trying to find my parents, and that they were in Savannah. He really seems nice, I think he wants to help me find them."

"Kiddo, trust me," Alyssa shook her head, "that's not what he wants, he-"

"Lee!"

Lee got to his feet and headed for the stairs, where Ben had run down, looking scared "Lee, you need to get up here now!"

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"It's Kenny."

As they went up the stairs, Lee could see the attic ladders had been pulled down and wondered who had done that, "Kenny said he thought he heard something up there," Ben explained, "went to go look."

"He's up there?" Lee asked, hoping that he was going to find Kenny alive and well up there.

"I can't get him to come down," Ben said.

Lee began climbing the ladders and turned to Ben, "Stay here."

Once he reached the top, he glanced around the spacious attic and seen Kenny on his knees, facing the window. "Kenny?" he said quietly, he got up from the opening and stood up straight, wondering what was wrong with his friend. "Kenny, you okay man?" he asked.

When he got no answer, Lee walked up to him and a vile smell hit him, "Jesus," he muttered, covering his nose "what the hell is that-?" then he seen what Kenny was really looking at "Oh my god."

Emitting weak growls and breaths, a small child walker tried to stand, it's ribs almost poking out from it's skin and wearing nothing but a dirty pair of underpants, it turned to face the two men and Lee seen that it's facial features were gaunt and thin. It tried to walk towards him, but there was a snapping sound and it fell as the thin, spindly legs failed to carry what little weight was on it. "Kinda looks like Duck, don't he," Kenny said in a hollow voice.

"It's just a kid," Lee said sadly, "what the hell happened to him...?"

Kenny shook his head, "Ain't nothing on him, guess he must've been hiding out up here and ...starved to death."

"Jesus Christ," Lee whispered.

"I don't know if I can, Lee," Kenny hung his head and looked terrible, "couldn't do it before. Can't do it now."

Lee shook his head, "I can't ask you to do this, man. I'll take care of it," he said quietly "like I did before."

Kenny met his eyes and looked close to tears, "Are you sure?" he asked.

"I guess we'll find out..." Lee replied, turning slowly to the child walker. He walked past the mattress and guessed that this is where he had been sleeping before he turned, there were empty cans and a water bottle littered around and Lee felt sick when he imagined how scared and alone this little boy must've felt before he died. This could have been Clementine and Alyssa's fate if he hadn't of found them when he did.

Looking down at the boy, Lee seen how fragile he really was as it continued to reach for him with his skinny little arm that was mostly bone then skin. He was no real danger to him, so Lee decided against his gun and instead took a deep breath and placed his foot over his head. The little arm clawed against his leg desperately and Lee felt like the monster, not the walker beneath his foot.

Glancing at Kenny, he seen him look sadly at his friend, and sighed "I'm sorry," he said to the little boy and increased pressure on his foot. It instantly went through and the little boy stopped moving as Lee pushed against his brain, killing him for the final time.

Hearing footsteps behind him, Lee heard Kenny give a sigh "We should bury him," he said quietly.

Lee nodded, "I'll take care of it."

* * *

Alyssa was waiting at the bottom of the stairs and her eyes widened when she seen what Lee was carrying down the stairs, "Oh my god," she whispered and covered her mouth, "was he-?"

"He turned," Lee nodded, not letting himself look into the face of the little boy, "it's why Kenny wouldn't come down from the attic, we need to bury him."

Alyssa nodded and gave Lee a sorrowful look, "We should bury him with his dog," she said quietly, "at least he won't be alone anymore. I'll come with you."

"You don't need to-"

"You shouldn't have to do all the hard stuff yourself, Lee," she said quietly, "I'm helping you out with this one."

They walked out to the backyard and walked slowly over to the dog's grave again, the shovel still in the dirt. The weather had turned foggy and the streets were gray with mist. Bending down, Lee placed the little boy in the grave and stepped back, picking up the shovel, he began to cover both boy and dog with the dirt carefully; showing their remains some respect.

Alyssa watched as Lee shovelled more dirt into the hole, burying the corpses and glanced behind her and saw Clementine standing by the door sadly, she watched as Christa came out, seen what they were doing and ushered Clementine back into the house; Alyssa sighed, Clementine was far too young to see what she had seen and now there was no taking it back.

As Lee bent down to scoop more dirt onto the shovel, Alyssa noticed a man standing on the other side of the fence watching and gasped in fright. Lee straightened up and went over to the fence and the stranger quickly took off running down the street.

"Hey! Hey!" Lee shouted after him, "you come back here, I'll kill you! You understand? I'll kill you!"

"Hey, what's going on?" Christa and Ben had came running out after hearing Lee shout.

"I saw someone standing by the fence, watching us," Alyssa shook a little, "he ran off once Lee caught sight of him."

"A walker?" Ben asked.

"No, too fast," Lee shook his head and walked towards the others, "took off like a bat out of hell when I spotted him."

"Was it a man or a woman?"

"Didn't get a good enough look," Lee told Christa, "the fog hid his or her features."

"What does it matter?" Ben frowned.

"Because it might be the same guy who's been following us," Alyssa sighed, "the guy Clem's been talking to on her radio."

The door opened and Kenny came out looking like hell, "Kenny?" Alyssa said worriedly.

"I'm fine, darlin', just...I'm fine. What's all the ruckus?" he said quickly.

"Alyssa and Lee saw someone watching us from outside the gate," Ben explained, "he took off though."

"What?" Kenny looked to Lee, "who?"

"I can't be sure," Lee shook his head annoyed, "they ran off before I could get a good look."

Ben rubbed the back of his neck, "I don't like this one bit. Not one bit," he said worriedly.

"Me either," Alyssa agreed, "walkers are one thing but just the thought of someone out there, stalking us makes me feel on edge."

Kenny looked angry all of a sudden, "All right, that's it. We've stuck around here long enough, it's time to get back on track. Time to get down to the river and find ourselves a boat."

"I don't know if Omid's well enough to move yet."

"Well he better get ready, because I'm ready to get down to River Street right now, and find a boat, and as soon as she's ready to go, we're moving out!" Kenny said firmly.

"I'm with Kenny on this one, I don't want to be in Savannah any longer than I need too" Alyssa nodded.

"The sooner we get the hell outta here the better," Lee agreed.

Kenny looked determined "Well then hell, what are we waiting for?"

"I'll go get my stuff!" Ben said but Kenny shook his head at him.

"No, Ben, you'll only slow us down," he said unkindly "Lee, Alyssa and I can go scout the river while the rest of you get ready to move out. You stay behind with Christa and Omid."

"Wait, can't I come?" Clementine had appeared outside also, "my mum and dad can't be far now, mabye we can look for them on the way to the river?"

Lee shook his head, "We need to focus on finding a boat right now, Clem. Like we talked about on the train, remember?"

Clementine hung her head, "Okay."

Kenny nodded at Lee, "Daylight's burnin'. Gonna go grab my gear, then we'll head out."

"Come on Clem," Christa said putting a hand on the little girl's back, "let's go see if Omid needs anything."

Everyone went inside but Ben stopped Lee, "So you're just gonna leave me on the bench here?"

"That's not how it is, Ben. I need you to stay here and keep an eye on Clementine," Lee said.

Ben thought about it and nodded "Okay, I'll do that."

Lee put on a serious face, "Well, just so we're clear. While I'm gone, anything or anyone tries to get inside this house, you shoot them. Don't even think twice about it, understand?"

"I got no problem shooting walkers," Ben assured him.

"Did you not hear what I said? Anything or anyone," when Ben nodded finally Lee let out a sigh, "good."

As Ben went back into the house, Lee glanced back at the gate and wondered who the hell had been watching them from the other side.


	32. Around Every Corner: Chapter Four

Savanannah had become eerily quiet but this time they all knew that the walkers were there, and in large numbers. As they headed down towards the river, Alyssa noticed every car had been stripped of parts and she frowned; she would have thought they would want the cars intact not ripped apart.

She noticed Lee give Kenny a worried look as they followed him down the street, he hadn't said a word to them since they had left the house. "Keep your eye out for Chuck," Alyssa said quietly, hoping to see the old man again, "he might be waiting for us around here."

"Yeah...sure."

Lee shot Kenny an annoyed look and nodded at Alyssa, "Don't worry, if he's around here. We'll find him."

Alyssa rolled her eyes at Kenny but shot a small smile at Lee, "Thanks, he's a good guy, if I can help him I will."

There was the sound of ringing bells again and Kenny brought out his gun, "Son of a bitch!" he cursed furiously "that bastard's fucking with us again. It's another trap!"

"No listen," Lee held up a hand and listened carefully, "that's not the same bell as before. This ones further off. Whatever it is, it's gonna get the dead moving over there."

Almost on cue, there was the rasping sounds of walkers as they headed up the street, the three of them just walked down. Kenny pulled Alyssa to the wall and they took cover as the walkers stumbled past them. Lee took out his gun as did Alyssa and they stayed quiet so not to draw attention to themselves.

"What in the hell is going on?" Kenny muttered irritatably.

"I have no idea," Lee said shaking his head, "but someone must be ringing those bells."

"Whatever man," Kenny fumed "I find whoever's doing that, I'll ring their motherfucking bell for 'em."

"Good one," Alyssa snorted.

They watched as the last walker dragged itself from the street and then there was silence again, "Let's keep moving," Kenny whispered, standing up.

Lee kept a watch behind them and walked backwards; not wanting anything to creep up on them. He didn't see Kenny and Alyssa stop with shocked looks on their faces until the last moment, "Still nothing behind us," he said turning around, "I think we're-"

"Oh god," Alyssa whispered.

The river front was empty of boats and the ones that were there were half sunk or broken not of any use to anyone. "There's gotta be a boat ..there's gotta be," Kenny said desperately.

Lee put his hands on his head and sighed, "Kenny, man...I don't think so," he said.

"I think we need a new plan," Alyssa said quietly.

"This IS the plan Alyssa!" Kenny snapped, turning on them, "this is our best and only shot! You both said so back at the house! You both agreed with me!"

"Yeah, but that was before, we-"

Kenny didn't wait for a reply and ran down to the riverfront, stubbornly not believing his eyes that there was no boats. "What are we going to do?" Alyssa asked Lee fearfully, "this was the whole point of coming to Savannah."

"I don't know honey," Lee said sadly, "but we might as well look around, a boat might be out there still."

From her face, Lee knew that she didn't believe him but she did as he asked and followed him to the riverfront where Kenny was. He was peering into the dark water, at the closest boat that was half sunk, "This one might still be salvageable" Kenny muttered, taking in the boat.

"Seriously?" Lee asked; to him it looked like a wreck.

"You got a better fucking idea?" Kenny snarled at him, he looked back at the boat, "I'll check it out, Al' go look for anything useful and Lee, look further along the waterfront. Mabye there's something at the other end."

Lee looked unsure, "I don't think we should split up too far."

"We don't have too," Alyssa said suddenly, "there's a telescope. You'd be able to see all the way along the waterfront from right here."

Kenny nodded, "See what you can find," he said before turning back to the boat.

Lee headed over to the telescope that Alyssa had pointed out and looked through the eyehole and seen nothing but darkness, "Great," he muttered bitterly to himself, "needs a quarter to work."

Movement caught his eye and he turned around only to be horrified at what he was seeing; walking slowly to the wall built of dead walkers which smelled disgusting, he seen that some had been kept alive and were impaled on spikes, a huge banner hung nearby saying 'Keep Out' which made Lee wonder what had happened in Savannah.

"What the fuck?" Alyssa appeared by his side and covered her mouth, "what is this meant to be some kind of warning?"

"Who would do something like this?" Lee whispered, shaking his head, "come on, we don't need to look at this any longer."

"That was fucked up," Alyssa said, "I hope to God that boats salvageable because I don't want to stay in Savannah any longer, not if this is what goes on here," she glanced at Lee, "did you manage to get the telescope working?"

"Needs a quarter in order for it to work," he said sighing heavily, "didn't find any money did you?"

"There was nothing in that newspaper stand, despite it having a till," Alyssa said, "but there's a newspaper machine, mabye that still has some money in it?"

"I'll go check, stay by me, I don't want you getting in harms way," Lee said firmly, "and try not to annoy him."

Alyssa nodded followed Lee as he walked to the newspaper machine. It was locked but he just took out his faithful monkey wrench and gave it a few good bangs on the side and he heard the clink of a coin as it fell onto the sidewalk. "Thank god it's a quarter," she smiled "might just be our lucky day."

"Here's hoping," Lee said picking up the coin and hoping they would see something on the other side, just before he could insert the coin, he heard Kenny curse loudly next to them.

"FUCK!"

"What's up with the boat?" Lee asked him, as he walked up to them.

"It ain't gonna work," he said angryily, "hull's cracked beneath the water line, plus someone stripped out the battery."

"You can't fix it?" Alyssa asked sadly but Kenny didn't answer as he just caught sight of the walker wall.

"What the-what the hell is that?" he took a step backwards, shocked at what he was seeing as Lee and Alyssa had been.

"A fate worse than death..." Lee sighed, he inserted the coins and looked out along the river, there was no sign of any boats other than a sunken one in the middle of the water. Just as he was going to give up, he spotted a figure standing up straight on the building and start climbing down it.

"What the hell-" he whispered and then crouched down low, "get down, get down!" he hissed at the other two, who followed him and dropped down onto the docks and hid behind the wall.

Cautiously raising himself up, Lee spotted the person walk behind the newstand and begin rifling through what was left, he heard Kenny shift beside him, "Why the hell are we hiding?" he muttered to Lee.

"Someone came down that building at the end of the steet," Lee said in a low voice.

"Where'd he go?" Alyssa asked worriedly.

"Saw him run into that newstand."

Kenny looked through the railings and narrowed his eyes at the figure, "Could be our bell ringer," he said quietly "how about we go find out?"

"Sounds like a plan," Lee said nodding.

"Okay, you head up the middle of the street, I'll go around the side, cover your flank. We'll come up on him quiet, take him by surprise," Kenny said, "Al' you stay here and cover us from the back" he brought out his gun and Lee looked down at it doubtfully.

"We just want to talk to this guy," he reminded Kenny.

"Oh we're gonna talk!" Kenny muttered and jumped over the fence and crouched low as he began to head to the side of the newstand, Lee followed and headed straight for it, keeping his eyes on the figure.

As he got closer, the scavenger bent down and disappeared from sight, bringing out his wrench to defend himself if need be, Lee advanced up to the newstand quickly and straightened up to see over the stand and was met by nothing.

Hearing someone behind him, Lee turned quickly and punched the scavenger before he could attack him with his ice-pick, readying himself he was prepared when they tried to swing at his face by dodging it and pushing them hard to the ground. Before they could get up again, he knelt down and pointed the gun straight at the person's forehead.

All Lee could see clearly was a bit of blonde hair and eyes glaring at him, the rest of the face covered by a mask and the orange hoodie that they were wearing. He tried to catch his breath when he heard a quiet voice behind him, "Lee?"

Turning around to the source of the voice, he was surprised to see Clementine standing there in the street. "..Clem?" he frowned.

The person slowly reached for the ice pick again as Lee was distracted but he pressed the gun against their forehead harder as a warning and slowly the person lowered their hood and Lee saw that it was a woman, not a man, that had tried to attack him.

"You're not from Crawford," she said slowly.


	33. Around Every Corner: Chapter Five

Lee looked down at the woman and narrowed his eyes, "You're not the guy from the radio," he said slowly.

"I'm not a guy at all," she said sarcastically, rolling her eyes at him, "full marks for observation. Mind if I get up?"

Lee frowned, "Slowly." He allowed her to stand, still holding out the gun incase she tried to pull a fast one on him again, she dusted herself off and lowered the mask on her face. Lee could see how young she was, and slowly lowered the gun, but still kept it in his hand.

Kenny came out of the alleyway, with his weapon drawn and came closer to the girl, she seemed to notice that someone was behind her and Lee quickly shouted out at him, "Kenny! No! It's not our guy!"

Before Kenny could say anything, the girl quickly crouched down and swung herself around, knocking him to his feet as her legs swept him off of his. His gun went off and the walkers impaled on the spikes began to snarl and attempt to reach them, looking around Alyssa hoped that no passing walkers had heard the gunshot.

The girl wasted no time and kicked Kenny's gun away, she brought out her ice pick again but Lee stopped her from hurting Kenny, "No! He's with us!" he said quickly.

She stopped and warily glanced around, her eyes settling on Clementine and she sighed before putting her weapon away. "Who the hell are you people?" she asked, folding her arms.

"I asked you first."

"The names Molly," she replied.

"Molly, I'm Lee this is Kenny, Alyssa and Clementine," he said "we're not looking for any trouble."

Clementine shot her a smile, "Hi," she said in a friendly tone.

Molly gave Clementine a look of disbelief and then raised an eyebrow at Lee, "You guys really aren't from Crawford, are you?" she asked.

"We don't even know what that is," Alyssa frowned, "what is it?"

"Everything beyond that barricade," Molly said, jabbing a finger behind her at the walker wall.

"What the hell happened here?" Lee asked her.

Molly glanced down at the ground and averted her eyes, "You sure you wanna know?" she looked up and Lee nodded "When everything started going to shit, some people got together and sealed off that whole neighborhood. Folks willing to do anything to stay alive, stop the dead getting in. I tryy to avoid 'em."

"Why?" Kenny asked from behind her, with his arms folded.

"Let's just say they have a zero-tolerance policy for anyone who won't - or can't - live by their rules."

"So how'd you know we weren't them?"

Molly was quiet before she looked down at Clementine again, "Because there are no children in Crawford. Not anymore."

"What do you mean no children?" Alyssa asked quietly, "why not?"

Molly looked to the wall again and walked towards it, "No children, no elderly, no-one with an advanced medical condition. Basically no-one who might be a burden on the communitiy," she made a disgusted face, "Crawford's all about the survival of the fittest, that's how they survived while the rest of the world went to shit all around them."

"Jesus Christ..." Kenny whispered.

"Well, just the opposite when you think about it," Alyssa muttered.

Lee still couldn't get his head around it, "What exactly did Crawford do with all these 'burdens?'" he asked "what happened to them?"

"Well, you met some of them already," Molly said sarcastically, pointing to the wall.

Kenny rubbed his head and looked up in disbelief, "Fuck me."

"Yeah, anyone who got sick, anyone too old," Molly continued, "anyone they figured wasn't strong enough to survive. To them those people were just mouths to feed, a drain on their precious resources."

They stared in silence at the walls and Alyssa felt sick knowing that these were poor innocent people, now dead and now a wall to protect the community that deemed them unworthy, "How do you know all of this?" she asked Molly, breaking the silence.

"Everyone in Savannah knew," Molly answered "what was going on inside Crawford got passed around like a ghost story. Except this one was true."

Clementine looked up at Lee, and he remembered that she was meant to be 'safe' at the house, "Clem, what the hell are you doing here?" he asked "how'd you get out of the house?"

"Omid started getting really sick," she explained quickly, "Christa and Ben had to take him upstairs. I didn't just want to sit around there, I wanted to come help!"

"I told you we didn't need any help," Lee said firmly, Clem's face fell and she looked annoyed at Lee, who turned to Molly, "Was that you at our house this morning? Watching Alyssa and I through the back fence?"

"Hell no," Molly snorted "believe it or not, I've got better things to do with my time."

Alyssa stepped forward, "Do you know who's been ringing those bells all over town?" she asked.

"Yeah, that would be me."

Kenny glared at Molly and looked furious, "I knew it! Lee, I knew she was the one who's been following us," he pointed a finger in her face, "fuckin' with us!"

Molly gave Kenny a glare of her own, "Get that finger out of my face, grampa, before I jam it straight up your ass," she growled "I haven't been following you. I don't even know who the hell you people are."

"Calm down Kenny," Lee said "the voice on the radio was a guy, remember?"

Kenny still didn't calm down, "Yeah, well. Whoever you are, ringing those bells this morning nearly got us all killed, raised the dead all around us!"

Molly rolled her eyes, "That's the idea, genius. It's how I get around, I ring a bell in one neighbourhood to attract the local geeks toward it," she explained in an obvious tone, "buys me time to scavenge the areas they cleared out."

"Geeks?" Alyssa smiled amused, "is that what you call them?"

Molly nodded, "Yeah, you know, like at the carnival? They'll eat anything alive or dead."

"That's pretty smart, with the bells," Lee said impressed.

"Doesn't take much to outsmart the dead," Molly shrugged "bunch of dumb-asses. You just gotta move fast, get in and out before they start to wander back again" she turned serious and narrowed her eyes at Lee, "look, I'm gonna ask you people again; you're not from Crawford, so who the hell are you? What are you doing here?"

"We're just trying to survive, same as you."

"And the only way we're gonna survive is by getting on a boat and gettin' the hell out of here," Kenny added.

Molly snorted again, "Good luck with that," she said sarcastically looking at Kenny, "anyone with a boat took it out of here as soon as people started eating each other. Any that got left behind, Crawford stripped them for parts. Cars too."

"There's gotta be something," Kenny muttered, shaking his head, refusing to believe what she was saying.

"If there was, do you think I'd still be here" Molly asked him, "I've been over every inch of this city, this whole place is picked clean."

"Goddamnit!" Kenny snapped loudly, "Fuck!"

Molly shot him an annoyed look, "Hey! Moron! You wanna keep your voice down?" she hissed "

Kenny fell silent and Alyssa seen the defeated look on his face, "Shit," he whispered and closed his eyes.

"Since you're not getting on a boat, I'd advise you folks to go back where you came from," Molly said quietly, "before-" she stopped dead and her eyes widened as walkers started to come back into the area, "great, just great," she grumbled.

More came down the alley and Alyssa backed away nervously, "Isn't that the..."

"The way we came," Lee finished for her, keeping Clementine close to him.

"Fuck!" Kenny cursed, "gunshot must've brought 'em back."

Clementine looked at them desperately, "Isn't there another way back to the house?" she asked.

"Molly, is there-" Lee turned to her but she had already taken off down the alley away from them. They followed her quickly and seen that she was on top of a stairway, safe from the walkers. "Hey!" Lee snapped, catching up with her, "you're just gonna leave us here?"

She stood up straight and frowned at him, "Sorry, I must have missed the part of our conversation where you became my problem."

"Don't leave us here," Clementine cried out fearfully, "please!"

Molly glanced back and her eyes softened a little bit and she sighed, "come on!" she snapped, crouching down and holding out her hand, "make it fast!"

Lee lifted up Clementine and then Alyssa to safety first as the walkers began to stumble towards the alley, "Oh fuck me ..." Kenny shook his head, at the number of walkers.

"Come on, come on, hurry!" Lee said urging him, he helped boost him up and he just managed to climb onto the staircase to join the others. Lee glanced around and realised there was no one there to help give him a boost up, there were more walkers gathering and he started to panic a little.

"Lee! Come on!" Clementine shouted urgently.

Kenny reached down as far as he could, "Come on, man," he said quickly, "one good jump!" Lee jumped and managed to catch his hand but couldn't hold on and fell on his back, groaning slightly, he backed away quickly as the walkers came closer.

"NO!" Alyssa shouted, "LEE!"

He ran towards the large bin blocking the alley and pushed it out of the way, but more walkers attracted by the noise, had came down the other side and his heart began to race; he was trapped.

"C'mon Lee!" Kenny shouted "get your ass outta there!"

He felt something click under his feet and looked down to see a grate, desperately he tried to pull it back but it wouldn't budge. "Can't get it open!" he shouted, through gritted teeth.

"Here!" Molly threw down her ice-pick, "use that to pry it open!"

The ice-pick did the job and Lee soon had the grate pulled off and quickly climbed down the ladders just as the walkers really closed in on him, he heard Clementine scream his name and he dropped down the rest of the ladders and landed in the sewers. Glancing up, he saw walkers all around the opening, trying to reach him. One reached too far and ended up falling in, smashing it's head on the floor and blood slowly seeped from it.

"Clementine, Alyssa can you hear me?" he shouted up from the sewer, he was quiet for a minute but there was no answer, "if you can hear me, just get back to the house, okay? I'll meet you there!"

Looking around, he saw no immediate danger and walked slowly down the stairs as the snarls of the walkers above him slowly faded away. He didn't want to imagine what he was walking in and found an opening that he took. Walking down the side, so he wouldn't slip, he dropped down and glanced around to make sure there were no walkers lurking about in the sewers.

He followed the only available route and walked round a corner and stopped dead when he seen a cluster of walkers feeding on something in front of him, there were too many for him to take on and he quickly hid in a low tunnel to the left of him before any of them could see him.

Crouching down far in the tunnel, he let himself catch his breath before he spotted a pipe with a wheel. He slowly turned it to the right and heard running water, hopefully it would distract any walkers and he could sneak past; but past the grating, he saw water begin to run loudly and a couple of walkers immediantly staggered towards it, trying to claw and eat the water.

"Good thing I'm out here and not in there," Lee whispered to himself but he also came up with a plan; he would need that wheel. A walker came walking up and stopped in front of the tunnel and Lee quickly shut off the water before taking off the wheel, he didn't want to attract any attention just yet.

Slipping the ice-pick into the lock, he put his foot against the wall to push against as he pulled the lock towards him, the door opened and he quietly exited the tunnel and headed to the other drainage pipe and carefully put it on and turned it to make the water run. This one was larger and he hoped it would attract all of the walkers in the tunnel, running back to the unlocked door, he closed it and stayed quiet as the walkers stumbled clumsily past to find the source of all the noise.

Lee held his breath as they passed and slowly sneaked to the front and was relieved to see that his plan had worked, and only one walker remained with it's back to him. He exited the tunnel and stood up straight, heading straight for the walker but something made him stop dead in his tracks; a disembowled Chuck lay on the floor with his guts out and a bullet hole in his head, a revolver lay in his hand and Lee felt his heart drop.

"You poor basterd," he whispered, he reached over to check the gun and seen it had no bullets, "none, must've saved the last one for himself," he pocketed the gun as something to remember the brave old man by, he sadly looked at his face, "you deserved better, old man."

He crouched low and began to sneak up on the walker with it's back to him, and slowly raised Molly's ice pick in his hand but at the last moment, a hand came up from the grate beneath him and grabbed at his foot, tripping him up.

Panicking slightly as the other walker turned and saw him, Lee kicked hard at the hand and made it release his hold and just in time managaed to swing the ice pick into the head of the other walker, hitting it's brain, before it got to him.

Glancing at the others, he saw that they were still being distracted by the running water and sighed with relief; so far so good.

He walked up to where daylight was pouring through and seen the ladders had been ripped away. There was still some part of the ladder hanging down and he remembered seeing Molly run at the wall and hook onto the ladders before he dropped into the sewers.

Bracing himself, he took a run and tried to kick off the wall opposite but the sign caved in and he fell to his feet. "What the-?" he whispered, and moved the sign off, it revealed a dug out tunnel and Lee decided to chance it, it was either this or go back through the walkers and that was an easy choice for him.

Following the tunnel, he seen that he had come into a small storage room and frowned as he glanced around, "What the hell?" he thought and then caught sight of a sign that said 'Fallout Shelter'

He glanced at the shelves stocked full of food and raised his eyebrows; this could keep people alive for months. Seeing a door, he pushed it open and was met by older survivors who looked at him in shock.

Before he could say anything, he heard the click of a gun and turned to the right and saw himself being aimed at by an old man, who narrowed his eyes at him.

"Who are you?"


	34. Around Every Corner: Chapter Six

"It's alright," Lee said, calmly raising his hands, "it's okay. I don't want any trouble."

The man still held Lee at gunpoint, "Neither do we," he said firmly, "which is why you'd do well to turn around and leave. R-right now."

Lee nodded, "Look, I'm sorry I disturbed you folks; I'll just be going."

A younger woman with long hair shook her head, "You can't let him leave, he's from Crawford!" she hissed "if he goes back there and they find out we're down here..."

The man thought about this and frowned at Lee, "Are you from Crawford?" he asked seriously, "d-don't lie to me, I'll know."

"Where else can he be from!" the woman insisted "everyone else around here is dead!"

The man looked a little nervous, and glanced at Lee who had remained quiet, "I think you had better start talking" he said quietly.

"I came here with a small group, hoping to find a boat," Lee decided to be honest with the other survivors, "we just want to get out of here. How about you just let me go?"

"Ain't no boats around here," the old man shook his head, smiling bitterly "Crawford took everything."

Lee sighed, "Yeah...I heard."

"You can't trust him Vernon," the woman said angryily, walking up to the two men, "you can't let him leave."

"What do you want me to do?" Vernon snapped at her, "shoot him in the head?"

"Why not? That'd be more of a mercy than anyone from Crawford ever showed us! Think Vernon, what do you think they'll do if they find out we're down here, right under their feet?"

Vernon sighed, "Dammit, you're right," he glanced at Lee sadly, "I'm sorry friend. Can't take the risk."

Lee felt desperate and looked the man in the eyes, "I'm not from Crawford, but saw what they did up there. It made me sick. I'm not like them," he said truthfully, "and I don't think you are either. I think you're a good man," he took a step towards him.

"Keep back or I swear I'll shoot!" Vernon threatened him.

"It's alright," Lee said calmly, reaching out and taking the gun from his shaking hands, "it's okay."

The woman looked at Vernon in horror, "Vernon! What the hell are you doing!" she stepped in front of him, scared as if Lee was going to hurt him, "Vernon!"

"Relax," Lee said, putting the gun away, "I'm not here to hurt you."

After seeing Lee was being truthful and wasn't from Crawford, the others relaxed and didn't look terrified anymore. "You're really not from Crawford?" Vernon asked, sounding surprised.

"No, I'm really not."

"Well, we are. Or were," Vernon explained, glancing around at the other people "we got out of there when they started sealing up the place, started weeding out the sick and the old," he folded his arms, "so their perfect survivor society wouldn't be threatened. No room for weakness or vulnerability in their little master race."

"You don't look that old," Lee said frowning a little, "so... you're sick?"

"Were sick," Vernon said sadly, "we're all members of a cancer survivors group that used to meet here at the hospital, we're in remission but that wasn't good enough for Crawford," he said bitterly "they'd already rounded up five of us before the rest of us managed to hole up and hide from them down here. This old basement's been abandoned for years."

"What is this?" Lee asked, glancing around "a morgue?"

"Yeah, irony's always high on my list when I'm looking for a place to survive," he glanced at Lee again, "how did you find your way down here?"

"A few of us got boxed in by walkers up on the street," since they didn't shoot him, Lee felt that honesty definetly was the best policy "I came down here trying to get away. Now I just want to get out of here and get back to my own people."

Vernon thought for a moment, "That sewer system you came through runs all over the city, it'll take you wherever you want to go," he said.

Lee thought about wandering the sewers by himself and knew straight away it was a bad idea, "Those sewers are like a damn maze, any chance you could help me find my way back?" he asked.

"Look, I want to help you, but we've got our own problems," Vernon started, sounding a little guilty, "two of our group is sick and is in need of constant care and I'm the only doctor here."

"Besides, why should we help you?" the woman glared at Lee.

Lee bit back a retort to her; despite the fact this woman was starting to annoy him. "Look, I'm sorry if I scared you," he said quietly, "I just want to get back to my people, back to Clementine and Alyssa."

Vernon met his eyes and looked at him "They your daughters?"

"No," Lee replied, looking down at the ground, "they both lost their real parents, I'm doing what I can."

The woman seemed to see Vernon weakening after hearing Lee speak and shook her head, "You're not seriously considering going with him!" she hissed.

"It's all right, Brie," Vernon said holding up his hand, he looked back to Lee, "I had a daughter too. Lost her in the first days, I'll be damned if I'll just sit back and let that happen to someone else" he added firmly.

"We need you here," a black man said weakly, standing at the back.

"Don't worry, I'll be back before you know it," Vernon smiled, and then he glanced at Lee, "let's go."

* * *

Despite the fact that there was no supplies, heating or running water; Lee was glad to see the house they were holed up in again and eagerly went to the front door. "Clementine? Clem," he called out, glancing around, "Alyssa?"

Vernon closed the door quietly behind them, and Lee spotted Molly in the kitchen, searching through all of the cupboards. "Molly?"

She jumped slightly and then looked at him, "Oh, hey," she said "you made it back."

"Who's this?" Vernon asked Lee, giving Molly a curious look.

Molly raised an eyebrow, "He didn't tell you about me?" she said sarcastically, walking up to them, "I'm the one who saved his ass back at the river," she glanced at the old man, "who's the fossil?"

Lee gave her a warning look that she ignored completely, "This is Vernon, he's a doctor, he helped me get back here after we got seperated."

"I think you have something that belongs to me?" Molly said, uninterested in Vernon, she held out her hand. Lee handed her back the ice pick and she walked off to search the house some more.

"Lee!" Christa came running down the stairs, "thank God you're back!"

"Christa, what's wrong?"

"It's Omid," Christa said quietly, the worry evident in her face, "he's gotten worse, much worse."

"We have a man wounded," Lee explained to Vernon.

Christa noticed him and raised an eyebrow, "Who's this?" she asked.

"This is Vernon, he's a doctor."

Christa closed her eyes in thanks, "Oh thank god," she opened her eyes and looked at him beseechingly "you have to help us, please?"

Vernon took in her expression and his eyes softened "I'll see what I can do," he said kindly, "take me to him."

They followed Christa upstairs into one of the bedrooms, and judging from the decorating Lee guessed it was the young boy's room, Omid lay motionless on the bed with his eyes closed. Walking over, Christa sat beside him and took his hand in hers tenderly. "Omid, honey. You're going to be alright," she whispered, "Lee brought a doctor."

Vernon leaned over Omid and took in his pale face and bloody leg, "Alright, let's take a look at him..." he glanced behind him at Lee, "I work better without an audience. I'm sure you have more things of your own to attend to."

Lee nodded and left him to it; wondering where the girls were. He walked out of the room and called out for them one more time, "Clementine? ...Alyssa?" when he got no answer he felt a flutter of worry. He walked towards the stairs and swore he could hear someone crying, listening closely, he realised it was coming from the other bedroom.

Opening the door, he was surprised to see Alyssa lying on the bed, hugging a pillow tight as she cried quietly. "Alyssa?" he said quietly, walking over, "what's wrong, why are you up here yourself?"

She said nothing but closed her eyes and more tears dribbled down her face. "Kenny's drinking," she said finally.

"Why are you crying?" Lee asked, "did he say something to make you upset?"

Alyssa shook her head and hugged the pillow a little tighter, "He was going on about how we're gonna die in Savannah since there's no boats but that's not why I'm crying," she pressed her lips together, "I just got to thinking...about my parents."

Lee said nothing, in the months, Jesus no, it was almost a year of knowing her, she had never brought up her family - and if they were, she simply fell silent and didn't talk until the subject changed. "Are you missing them?" he asked slowly.

"My dad was an alcoholic," Alyssa replied, "if his team lost or he didn't win any money on his bet then I would be the one to suffer for it. I hated him...and my mum, I came home from school one day and she'd left me. I don't want to miss them but I am, it's the not knowing what's happened to them" her face crumpled "I'm struggling to remember what they look like or the sound of their voices and that's why I'm crying; because I'm forgetting."

Lee stroked her hair and sighed, "I'm sorry honey," he said sadly, "I wish we could find out for you."

Alyssa gave him a weak smile and sat up, "I know, just with that and having nightmares about...the dairy and Mark and now the boat situation, I just think I've hit my limit."

Lee wiped her eyes, "And that's okay, it is a pretty desperate situation," he said "I thought I wasn't going to see any of you again after dropping in that sewer."

"I'm glad you found your way back to us," Alyssa said quietly, "couldn't imagine going through this without you."

Lee smiled at her but then turned serious, "Where's Clementine?"

Alyssa shrugged, "She was in here, looking out the window waiting for you then she went downstairs. I couldn't face Kenny again, so I stayed here," she bit her lip, "I'm sorry, I should have kept an eye on her."

Lee shook his head and gave her a one-armed hug, "You needed a little time for yourself," he said, "I'll go down and find her, you sit tight till your ready okay?"

"I'll clean myself up, then I'll come down."

Lee exited the room and headed downstairs quickly, "Clementine, you here?" he called out and walked through to the sitting room where a drunken Kenny and awkward looking Ben were sitting, "Kenny" he said dissaprovingly.

"Oh hey!" he slurred a little, lowering the bottle, "you made it back, good job, good job."

"What the hell do you think your doing?"

Kenny shrugged, "What does it look like?" he took another long drink from the bottle.

Lee folded his arms and narrowed his eyes at him, "Where'd you get the bottle?"

"Found it," he grinned, "first good thing that's happened since ..." he trailed off and looked a little sad but took another drink to forget his pain.

Lee shook his head and walked over, "Kenny, come on, gimmie that" he tried to take the bottle off of him, but Kenny frowned and pulled it out of his grasp. "Kenny, give me the damn bottle!" Lee snapped.

"Get the fuck away from me!" Kenny raised his voice and stood up threateningly.

Lee glared at him "Getting wasted's not going to help anyone."

"Yeah, well, what is?" Kenny snapped back, "we are fucked!" he didn't stop even with Alyssa coming down the stairs, her eyes still red. He fell back on the seat and ranted at them, "Molly said there's not a single boat left in Savannah. No way out. We got walkers all around us, that crazy fuck on the radio messing with us...hell, if now ain't the time for a drink..." he took another drink and then offered the bottle to Ben.

He reached out for it but then glanced at Alyssa who narrowed her eyes at him, he leant back in the chair and shook his head at Kenny, who rolled his eyes and then snorted, "She got you well trained, hasn't she?"

"Have either of you seen Clementine?" Alyssa asked, ignoring Kenny's comment.

He shrugged, "Damned if I know, gotta be around here somewhere," he said.

Lee turned on Ben and frowned at him, "Ben, I gave you one job when I left here - take care of Clementine. Then she shows up out on River Street looking for us? What the hell happened?"

Ben returned his frown, "Hey, don't put all that on me. Omid took a turn for the worse and Christa asked me to help," he didn't look at Alyssa, "I'm sorry, I'm doing the best I can here. She was frantic and things got kinda crazy, I told her to stay put what else could I do?"

Lee sighed; he couldn't blame Ben for Clementine's stubborness to stay put. "It's okay," he said finally "I'm not mad at you, I just want to know where she is."

"I think she went outside," Ben said, "she wanted to see if there were any leaves or flowers."

"By herself," Alyssa stopped herself and shook her head, "let's go Lee."

Out the backyard, there was no sight of Clementine, and Alyssa felt a little worried, it wasn't like her not to answer herself or Lee's calls. Especially Lee's.

"Clementine?" he called out, "Clem!"

Alyssa ran over to the fence and glanced out to see if she was outside it but there was no sign of anything except a walker at the very end of the lane. Lee walked up to the shed, but realised she couldn't have gotten in as the door with the vines over it untouched, but he did notice a vent open and raised an eyebrow; what the hell happened here?

There was a loud bang and Alyssa jumped as she turned to see Lee getting out his gun standing in front of the shed, "What the hell was that?" she whispered, standing beside him.

"I don't know," he said quietly, "stay back, could be a walker."

He slowly advanced towards the door and put his hands on the handles, ready to yank it open and confront whatever was in it. He pulled at the door a couple of times and then it suddenly opened and he fell back off his feet, he groaned and then looked up and saw Clementine standing in front of him.

"Lee!" she shouted happily and ran to hug him.

Alyssa smiled as she watched them both hug, "Hey girl," Lee said happy to know she was safe and sound.

Clementine grabbed his hand and pulled slightly, "Come look!" she said to the both of them, "look what I found!"

Lee and Alyssa glanced into the shed and she felt like her knees were going to buckle underneath her, she wanted to shout, sing, dance and cry all at the same time at the sight of the boat in the shed.

"Holy shit!" Lee exclaimed.

"Swear," Alyssa and Clementine said at the same time, then shared a smile.

They heard footsteps behind them and saw Kenny stare at the boat, the bottle of whiskey in his hand. As it dawned on him what he was looking at, he started to smile and dropped the bottle immediantly.


	35. Around Every Corner: Chapter Seven

It was deadly silent in the house as the group waited anxiously for Kenny to come back and tell them if the boat was ready to get them out of Savannah, Vernon quietly came down the stairs after checking on Omid and sat beside Christa. Lee paced the floor, occasionaly glancing up to the back door to see if Kenny would walk through while Clementine remained upstairs, drawing. Alyssa bit her nail nervously as she sat at the window, she hoped with all that was in her that this boat was their ticket out of this hellhole.

"Omid's doing okay?" Lee asked the old man, as he continued to pace in front of the window.

"As well as can be expected under the circumstances," Vernon sighed, "I did what I could for him, cleaned out the wound. But he's got a real infection, running a fever. Without antibiotics..." he trailed off not wanting to finish his sentence.

"Will you quit pacing?" Molly said suddenly to Lee, who stopped in surprise, "you're making everyone nervous."

"Why are you even still here?" Christa snapped, giving her an ugly look.

Molly raised an eyebrow, "Hey, if your friend really can get that boat working, you're taking me with you as payment for saving your asses," she put a hand on her hip, "I figure that's fair enough, don't you?"

They heard the door open and looked up to see Ben and Kenny walk through, the expression on Kenny's face was unreadable and Alyssa just hoped there was some good news to be told. "Well?" Lee asked.

Kenny sighed, "You want the good news or the bad news?"

"Let's get the bad news out of the way first."

"Bad news is she's not taking us anywhere the shape she's in right now," Kenny explained to the group, "gas tank's empty and the battery's dead."

"So what's the good news?" Alyssa asked quietly.

"That's it, that's all she needs," Kenny said, "some gas and a battery. Other than that, she's good to go."

"Well how are we supposed to get that stuff?" Christa snapped at Kenny.

"Sounds like Crawford is the one place that has everything we need," Alyssa said, everyone turned to her shocked, "mabye we should try there?"

Lee was quiet before he nodded, "I think you're right," he said slowly, "that's where we need to go."

Vernon looked up in disbelief at Lee "Now hold on a minute," he said.

"Surely we have to try!" Christa nodded, interrupting Vernon, "if there are people left in this city who are still alive, who still have supplies... what harm can it do to ask?"

Vernon stood and gave them all a serious look, "Trust me, you don't know these people, I do," he said, "you showing up with a wounded man? Might as well put a noose around his neck. They don't exactly welcome children with open arms either."

"What the hell kind of a place are we talking about here?" Christa asked incredulously.

Molly rolled her eyes at her ignorance, "The worst kind," she paused "but I don't see what other choice we have."

"And just how exactly do you figure we do this?" Kenny asked firmly, "because from what I've heard, this place ain't exactly friendly to outsiders."

"That's putting it mildly," Molly muttered sarcastically.

"There's got to be some way we can ... I don't know sneak in?" Alyssa said throwing her hands up, "I mean, they can't have guards everywhere surely?"

There was silence before Vernon spoke again, "There might actually be a way," he said quietly "I know the sewer system that runs beneath Crawford like the back of my hand. Y'all wouldn't happen to have a map by any chance?"

"Yeah, we do actually," Lee said, reaching into his pocket and bringing out the hastily folded up map of Savannah from the train. He unfolded it and laid it out on the coffee table in front of everyone.

Vernon studied it carefully and then nodded, "I think I could lead us through so we could pass under the perimeter and right into the centre, where they keep their supplies," he looked a little more enthusiastic "we come up right underneath them, take them by surprise, grab what we need and get out before they even knew what hit them!"

Molly looked thoughtful, "That's actually not the worst idea I've ever heard. I mean it's close. But I don't know...mabye it could work."

"I've thought about it before, just never had the people to do it," Vernon said, "but I think if we all work together, we could pull it off."

Kenny looked at him suspiciously, "And what do you want in return for all this help you're giving us?"

Vernon raised an eyebrow but didn't get angry with Kenny, "Crawford doesn't just have what you need for your boat," he explained patiently, "they're also well-stocked with medical supplies. Medicine that my people could use, just as yours could."

"We can do this," Christa said, looking around at everyone, "we have to!"

"Damn right we can!" Alyssa said smiling, "we've got through worse."

"So it's decided then?" Kenny asked, "we're going to Crawford?"

Lee nodded, "We can do this, I know it."

"Hell yeah we can," Kenny nodded at him, smiling a little.

Ben looked around with his eyes widened, "Are we seriously talking about this?" he asked nervously, "what about the risk?"

Kenny raised an eyebrow as he turned to him, "I don't know about you, kid, but I'd rather take a chance on doing something than just sitting around here waiting to die," he glanced at them all, "that boat out there's an answered prayer, we just gotta push a little bit farther," he looked back at Ben seriously, "are you in or out?"

Ben didn't answer and bit his lip as he thought about it, Alyssa glanced his way and felt sorry for him; he couldn't help the fact that he wasn't as brave as some of the others.

"We should go tonight, under cover of dark. I'll go let my people know, give you all a chance to prepare. I'll be back before midnight," he began to walk towards to the door.

"Be careful," Christa told him.

"That's how I'm still alive," he joked and went out of the door.

As everyone prepared for the journey, Lee walked over to the stairs, about to check on Clementine when he seen her sit on the step with her leg hanging through the gap. "I told you to stay in your room," Lee said climbing the stairs a little, "how long have you been there?"

"Is it going to be dangerous?" she asked him, ignoring his question.

"Is what going to be dangerous?"

Clementine met his eyes sadly, "Crawford" she said simply.

Lee sighed, "I can't lie to you Clem," he said honestly, "yeah, it's gonna be dangerous. But it's the only way to get the things we need to make Omid better, and get the boat working. That's why we have to do this, do you understand?" he asked.

"I don't want anyone else to die."

"Neither do I, Clem, but sometimes we have to take that kind of risk," Lee said quietly.

She thought about it and nodded slightly, "I guess I should go get ready," she said standing up.

"Say what now?"

"You said you'd need all of us to do this, and you said I'm a big help, remember?" when Lee didn't answer her she narrowed her eyes at him, "Molly said Crawford is the only place left in Savannah that still has people. That means it must be where my mum and dad are, right?" her eyes were full of hope but Lee was still unsure.

"Clementine, I think it'd be safer for you to stay here with Omid," he said softly.

"But what if something happens to him while you're gone?" she objected.

"What do you mean?"

"He's sick. If he doesn't get better, and... you know," she looked a little scared, "he might try to hurt me."

Lee paused, he hadn't thought about that; depsite going to the most dangerous place in Savannah, the safest place for her to be would be with the group. He glanced at her and she frowned.

"Can't I come with you?" she asked.

He made his decision, "Okay, you can come. But you have to promise to stay quiet and do exactly what you're told the whole time we're there" he said firmly.

She looked relieved and smiled at him, "Okay, I'm gonna go get ready!"

Lee sighed and rubbed his forehead, he just hoped he was making the right decision.

* * *

Outside, under the stars, the group waited patiently for Vernon to come back. Kenny and Alyssa were in the shed, looking for weapons while Ben stood nervously by the shed door as Clem and Lee joined them.

Christa made sure her gun was ready while Molly studied the map, frowning a little."Check out what we found in the garage," Kenny said, coming forward "hatchet, hacksaw, some other tools. Might come in handy on this little break-in."

"Useful for breaking in and breaking walkers," Alyssa joked, "not suitable for kids under six."

"Nice," Lee said, chuckling at Alyssa.

Kenny smiled at her but then gave Lee a serious look, "Can I talk to you for a minute," he said, walking out of earshot.

Lee followed him and then glanced backwards, "What's up?"

"I took another look at the boat," Kenny said in a low voice, "she's a 30 footer," when he seen that Lee had no idea what this meant, he carried on, "so we're gonna have a capacity problem. Boat that size ain't gonna hold more than six people, even with one of them a kid."

"Me, you, Alyssa, Clem, Christa, Omid, Ben, Molly..." Lee said quietly, glancing back - two people were going to have to be left behind.

"Assuming everyone makes it back alive," Kenny said pacing a little, "that's still one too many, even if we cut Molly loose. Before this is over, we're gonna have to make a decision."

"You're not serious?"

"Look, I'm just saying, if we want the best chance of-"

The gate creaked open, and Vernon and Brie came walking through into the garden to join them all. "Who the hell is this?" Kenny asked, sounding a little angry.

"This is Brie," Vernon said calmly, "she can help us."

"Good, we're gonna need all the help we can get," Alyssa said, glancing at Kenny pointedly.

"I was a student at the school where Crawford keeps their supplies," Brie explained, "I know the layout."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Molly said, pulling her hood up, "let's get moving."

Everyone made for the gate, but Lee stopped and looked at Clementine, "Hold up for a sec," he said to the others, kneeling down he looked at Clem seriously, "you ready?" he asked.

"Ready," she nodded determinedly.

Vernon raised his eyebrows at hearing that Clementine was coming, "Whoa, hold on a minute," he said in disbelief, "you're not taking her with us. Did you hear anything I said about the kind of place Crawford is? If you take her in there and they find her-"

"I'm not leaving her alone in the house with only Omid to protect her," Lee interrupted the old man, "just not happening."

"For what it's worth, I don't think it's a great idea either," Molly said surprisingly from the gate.

"She's coming, deal with it," Alyssa snapped, "if it wasn't for Clem, we'd never have got in the house or found the boat."

"You heard the lady, let's move out," Kenny said and they all followed Vernon and Brie out of the garden.


	36. Around Every Corner: Chapter Eight

"This should be it," Vernon said coming to a stop at some ladders, "we're right underneath the center of Crawford, the old school should be directly above us."

"Okay people," Lee said quietly, "this is it. Remember the plan."

"Stay quiet, stay hidden and stay together," Alyssa said nodding, "good plan."

Lee smiled, "We find what we need and we get the hell out before anyone even knows we're there, got it?" everyone nodded back and Lee looked down at Clementine, "and that part about staying close? That goes double for you."

Clem gave him a serious nod and Lee walked forward to climb the ladders first, as he neared the top he slowly slid the cover off and cautiusly raised himself out and glanced around. "Let's go," he whispered down and snuck over to the bushes, keeping watch as his group filed out of the sewer one by one.

Vernon looked around and frowned as they took cover behind the bushes, "Where is everybody?" he asked, sounding a little confused, "there should be guards patrolling."

"What, are you dissapointed?" Kenny raised an eyebrow at him.

"It's just strange is all," Vernon muttered.

"I think I see one," Alyssa whispered, "over there, by the door."

There was a man walking about, with his back turned to them and Lee narrowed his eyes at him. "Okay, me and Kenny'll sneak up, try to take him out quiet," he glanced behind him, "the rest of you wait for our signal then follow us over."

"Right behind you," Kenny said, carrying his rifle.

Lee snuck right up behind him, raising his hatchet and feeling better knowing that Kenny had his back. He was about to hit the guard over the head, when he turned slowly and Lee's eyes widened, "What the fuck!" he cursed.

It was no guard; it was a walker, it snarled at him and went to take a chunk out of his face but he thrust the hatchet into it's head and hit the brain, killing it instantly, falling to the ground, Lee looked at it in shock; he was under the impression there were no walkers in Crawford.

The rest of the group looked around uneasily while Molly walked up to Lee and raised an eyebrow, she was just as surprised as he was, "What the fuck is a walker doing inside here?" he asked out loud, looking around for more.

Alyssa looked behind her and saw a large group of walkers come up from the back of them, "Get inside!" she called out, "FAST!"

Making a run for the school doors, Kenny and Lee held them open and then quickly shut them and before any walkers could see where they went, they all ran up two flights of stairs hoping to lose any that had seen where they had disappeared too. Panting heavily, they reached the top floor and Brie and Vernon slammed the doors shut tight.

"Fuck, fuck!" Kenny hissed, "do you think they saw us?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," Lee said, glancing at the doors.

Christa walked about shaking her head, "What the hell happened here?" she asked, "I thought this place was supposed to be secure!"

"What always happens, I guess," Molly said turning to the group, "in the end, the dead always win."

Ben paced about the corridor with his hands on his head, looking terrified, "Oh man, we are so screwed..." he muttered.

"No, this is good," Vernon said, after making sure the doors were shut properly.

Alyssa nodded slowly "Vernon's right, we can deal with walkers easier than armed guards."

"I agree, long as we don't let them box us in, we can do this," Kenny said nodding as well, "the plan hasn't changed-"

"The plan hasn't changed?" Ben interrupted in disbelief, "everytime walkers show up the plan changes! Do you even ave any idea how many of them are out there?"

"No, you wanna do a headcount?" Christa snapped at him, "or do you want to get what we need and get the hell out of here?"

Ben didn't answer her.

Brie began to walk up the corridor, "Come on, I think I know which way to head."

They walked by a heavily locked door with a red 'x' painted over it and heard the sounds of walkers behind the door. Lee looked at it nervously while Molly sighed and nudged him, "Just keep moving," she said.

Brie opened a classroom door and nodded, "In here," she said, giving the room a quick survey, "looks okay."

Lee glanced around and saw it was a classroom decorated with children's drawings and paintings, it looked eerie now knowing what had happened to all the kids, on one door was a crude sign saying 'Armory." He immediantly tried to open it and realised it was locked; great.

Kenny glanced at the blackboard that was covered in plans and writing, "Looks like they were using this room as some kind of command centre."

"Okay, we got here, now what?" Alyssa asked, glancing around uneasily "where do we start looking?"

Brie ignored the blackboard and instead looked at the smaller map by the door, "Here," she said, glancing over it, "just give me a sec," she added as they crowded round her.

"Where would be the best place to look for medicine?" Alyssa asked, thinking about Omid.

"Right here," Molly said, before Brie, "nurse's station, they were using it as a medical facility."

Christa raised an eyebrow "How do you know that?" she asked a little suspicious.

"Just makes sense, doesn't it?" she said quickly.

"What about fuel?" Kenny asked Brie.

"There's a maintenence shed across from the playground, here," she pointed it out on the map, "if they were storing fuel, that's probably where it'll be."

"So then we just need a battery, this auto shop, it's right next door?" Lee asked.

Brie nodded at him, "Yup, it's called Herman's you can't miss it."

"Okay, I'll make a run to the maintenence shed for the fuel," Kenny said, "Al' you come with me and keep an eye out."

Alyssa nodded and Brie stepped forward, "It'll be faster if I go with you, I can take you both right to it."

Ben stepped forward, "I'll go too," he said to Kenny.

"No, three people's enough," Kenny replied, shaking his head, "you stay here, see if you can use any of those tools we brought to get that armory door open, we might need to shoot our way out of here," he added.

"I'll go for the medicine," Christa said immediantly.

Vernon nodded, "I'll come with you, I know what to take."

"Okay, I guess that leaves me to go find us a battery," Lee said.

Molly glanced at him, "I'll go with you, watch your back."

"Okay, we've got a plan, everyone be careful" Lee handed Alyssa the hatchet and she took it nodding, "stay close to one another, we'll all meet here. Good luck."

He was about to follow Molly out into the corridor when he felt a tug on his hand, "What about me, what can I do?" Clementine asked him.

Lee knelt down in front of her, "I need you to stay here with Ben and watch over our command centre," he said, "I'm putting you in charge of it, okay?"

Clementine made a face and glanced at Ben as he tried to get the door open, "You're leaving me with Ben?" she asked, not sounding impressed.

Lee chuckled, "I'm not leaving you with Ben, I'm leaving him with you, understand?"

Clementine's eyes widened and she nodded, smiling a little, "Oh, okay."

"Back before you know it," he said to her.

* * *

Alyssa kept a watchful eye out as she, Brie and Kenny snuck across the playground. If she was younger, she would have loved this playground with the tall chute and swings and large clubhouse but now it just reminded her of her old life and made her sad.

"That's the shed there," Brie whispered, pointing it out, "there should be fuel in there."

Kenny nodded and made to make a run for it, but Alyssa held him back and ducked behind the tunnel, "Walkers," she said quietly.

Two of them had just stumbled out from behind the shed and were walking away from them, Kenny gave her a smile, "Good goin' kid, didn't even see them there."

The walkers eventually left and they quickly ran across the playground and into the shed, luckily there were no walkers inside and to Alyssa's relief; there was fuel. Kenny began to pour what he could into containers as did Brie, while she kept watch at the door.

Mabye, just mabye, they would be able to pull this off but as Alyssa looked to the right, her eyes widened as she saw a large group of walkers coming towards the shed, "Guys, we need to go," she whispered, "like NOW!"

Kenny ran up and cursed, "Oh for fu-"

* * *

Lee quietly walked down the fire-escape stairs and looked around for Molly, who had disappeared. He spotted a walker on the other street, wandering aimlessly and knew that way was not an option, looking around, he seen the sign for Herman's auto shop and headed down the alleyway only to see the way was blocked by a fence with barbed wire at the top.

Walking into the little shed, he seen a hole in the roof and then judged the shelves; they looked strong enough so he climbed up them, through the hole and jumped down on the other side.

Trying the garage door, Lee could only get it raised a little before it became too heavy and he dropped it, sighing, he shook his head, "It's jammed tight," he muttered outloud, looking up.

Suddenly, there was a loud thud behind him and he saw the body of someone lying on the ground. Lee walked over warily, his eyes widened and he knelt down; where the hell did he come from?

"Leave him!" Molly dropped down, with her ice pick in her hand and a deadly look in her eyes, "he's mine."

"Nice to see you," Lee muttered sarcastically as she walked by him and headed straight for the body. She ignored him and began to savagely attack the dead body, kicking, punching, hitting it with her ice pick and Lee frowned as he seen how pained she looked. "Molly!" he snapped.

She turned and glared at him, "What!"

"I think you got him."

Pausing, Molly looked down while breathing hard, "One more," she said and stood and kicked the body hard, sensing she wouldn't want to talk about it, Lee stood beside her and looked down at the body.

"He's wearing medical scrubs," he observed, folding his arms, "some kind of scientist or a doctor mabye?"

"Yeah, well, he ain't shit now!" Molly said aiming yet another kick at him, leaning over she caught her breath, "Did you find us a way in?" she asked, removing her mask.

"Yeah, but the garage door's jammed, can't raise it."

Molly smiled and swung her bag down on the ground, "Not a problem," she said while Lee raised an eyebrow curiously, "look what I found" she handed him a car jack.

Lee grinned, "Oh yeah, that'll work" but before he could do anything, there was the sound of footsteps and they both looked up in time to see walkers come up to the fence and begin pressing themselves against it as they tried to get to Lee and Molly. The fence got lower and lower as they pressed harder against it.

"Shit!"

Springing into action, Molly held up the garage door as Lee slid the car jack into place and began to crank as quick as he could, "Come on, come on," Molly urged as the fence fell and the walkers started to wander into the alleyway. Lee managed to get the door to open so they could crawl through and they quickly stooped down and went under the door before the walkers could see where they had went.

Quietly, they stopped and watched as the legs of the walkers carried on past the door, and Lee sighed in relief. He stood up as did Molly, and she took out her ice pick, "Take a look around," she said, "I'll make sure no stragglers get under this door."

Inside the auto-shop, it looked like any other one Lee had been in. There was a truck and a car up on the hydraulic lift and a lot of tools and parts, but all Lee wanted was a battery. He went to the truck first and hoped for a battery; but seen that it had already been taken out.

He glanced around and saw the lift panel and bit his lip, there could be a chance that there was a battery still in the car. Pressing the button, he seen that there was no life to it. By luck he seen the hose and wondered if he cut it off, the car would come down. He just needed something to cut it with - quietly.

Molly noticed him coming back and raised an eyebrow, "Something you need?" she asked.

"Think I can borrow that hook thing of yours?"

"I don't know," Molly seemed unsure of Lee's request, "Hilda and I have been through a lot together."

"Hilda?"

Molly grinned, "That's what I call her, don't judge."

Lee rolled his eyes but smiled, "Please can I borrow, Hilda?" he asked again, "I'll take good care of her, she won't get a scratch."

She nodded and handed it over to him, "I got your promise now," she said, still grinning despite the situation they were in, "not a scratch."

Using 'Hilda' Lee slashed the hose and liquid poured out, he watched as the car slowly began to lower and he nodded to himself;the plan was working but suddenly, the car fell quicker and with a loud smash, hit off the ground and the alarm went off.

Molly gave a worried look by the door, "That's probably not good!" she snapped.

"No shit!"

The walkers heard the noise and began to try and crawl under the door to get the two survivors, Molly ran up and grabbed 'Hilda' off of Lee, "I'll try to hold 'em off," she said quickly, "Hurry!"

Lee unscrewed the negative and positive terminals and yanked out the battery as soon as it was free. "Got it!" he called out to Molly, who was trying to deal with the walkers at the door.

Kicking the car jack desperately to slam the door, she sighed, "Yeah, but we still got a problem here!" she pointed to her bag, "put it in here, I'll carry it!"

Lee did as he was told and followed her to the truck where they just managed to climb up the ladder as a walker made a grab for Lee's leg. More came in and Lee felt hopeless; they were trapped. The walkers pushed the truck about in an attempt to get them both. "Great, now what!" Lee asked her, over the snarling of the walkers.

Molly glanced around hurriedly and looked upwards, "Skylight," she said quickly, "shoot out the glass!"

Lee aimed his gun and fired a shot, and then covered himself over the falling glass. Molly went first, managing to use Hilda to grab onto the ledge and pull herself up and then offered Lee her hand, he jumped and caught it and allowed her to help him join her on the roof; that had been a close one.

"Okay, so now we're on a roof," Lee said sarcastically, standing up straight.

Molly walked near the edge and gave him an annoyed look over her shoulder, "Do you ever stop complaining?" she snapped, "come on!"

Lee watched in disbelief as she ran towards the edge and leapt, catching onto the other building with the ice pick and pulled herself up. Did she expect Lee to do that too?

"Come on!" she said, leaning down and holding out her hand, "What are you, chicken? Jump!"

Apparently so.

"What did you call me?" Lee asked a little irritated, although when he glanced over the side and seen how high up he was, he swallowed nervously, "well, now that you mention it..."

But he couldn't let down his girls; sighing, he ran towards the edge jumped and ... caught Molly's hand; feeling his heart beat faster, he got up over the edge and they both made their way back into the school where the others would be.

Hopefully, everyone had been as successful as they had been.

* * *

Lee carefully dropped from the hole where the tree had fallen through the roof and looked up at Molly expectantly. "Come on," he said.

"Later," she said, standing above him, "something I gotta do first."

Lee frowned at her, "What?"

"Catch you later," she began to turn away and Lee felt worried.

"Wait, you've still got the battery!" he exclaimed.

Molly raised an eyebrow down at him, "Yeah, I think I'll hold onto it," she said, "make sure you don't leave without me. See you back in class," she added sarcastically before disappearing out of sight.

Lee cursed inwardly; she better come back. Just as he began to walk down the corridor, the glass doors opened and Kenny, Alyssa and Brie came running through, out of breath and looking worried, "Little help here!" Kenny yelled, dropping the fuel and running back to the door where a large number of walkers were pressing against it.

Alyssa and Brie pushed against the doors and Lee tried to close them, but a walker stubbornly stuck it's head through the gap, biting the air near Lee, "Fuck!" Kenny cursed loudly, "Doors won't close all the way!"

"Lee! Do something!" Alyssa shouted, thinking fast, Lee brought out his gun and shot the walker blocking the doors being shut with it's head and managed to shut them, but the walkers still banged themselves against the door in a bid to get to the live people.

Brie looked terrified, "Brace the door with something!"

Alyssa reached behind her and got out the hatchet that Lee had given her, "HERE!" she yelled, "use this!"

She slid it along to Lee, who slotted it between the handles and doors remained shut. "Think that'll hold?" Alyssa whispered, looking at the half eaten, ugly, snarling dead faces of the walkers.

"It'd damn well better," Kenny muttered.

Brie shook her head, "There's so many of them..."

"You got the fuel!" Lee said happily, noticing the many red fuel cans they had brought.

"Let's not start high-fiving each other just yet," Kenny rolled his eyes, "let's get the hell back to the classroom. Give us a and with these fuel cans," he added "they weigh a goddamn ton."

Inside the classroom, they found Ben still trying to unlock the door and Clementine got up quickly from the desk she had been sitting at and gave them all a relieved smile, "You're back!" she said.

"Yeah, and we made out pretty good too" Kenny smiled.

"Great work, Kenny," Ben said from where he was and Alyssa fought to roll her eyes; this sucking up to Kenny was getting a litte O.T.T now.

"How're you doing with that door?" Kenny asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not so good..." Ben admitted a little embarresedly.

Kenny sighed and walked over to him, "Here, let me give you a hand," he glanced at Lee, "you get that battery yet?"

"Yeah, Molly has it," Lee answered, "she should be back here soon." _He hoped._

Kenny made a face but didn't get angry, "She'd better be."

"I'm going to go check on Christa and Vernon," Alyssa said, brushing herself off and grabbing her gun, "see if I can be any help."

Lee nodded, "Be careful of that door," he said quietly, "and be on your guard."

Alyssa touched his arm and smiled, "Always am, Papa Lee, always am."

"I'll come check on you in a minute," he said, "I want to check on Clem."

"No bother, meet you around there."

He watched her leave and then walked over to Clementine, "You okay, Clem?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied softly, but Lee could see she was obviously upset about something, "this desk is just like the ones we have in my school. I know it's weird," she added, "but I kinda miss it. Being in school."

"It's not weird at all," Lee told her kindly, "so do I."

"But you haven't been in school since ... forever," Clementine said in surprise.

"Hey, I'm not that old," Lee chuckled, "and I used to be a teacher, remember? American history."

Clementine smiled but then she looked a little worried, "Where's Molly?" she asked, noticing her absence.

"She had to go run an errand," Lee explained, "she'll be back soon."

Clem nodded slowly, but still looked worried at his words, "I hope she's okay."

"She'll be fine," Lee assured her, "she's pretty tough."

Clem glanced around and sighed, "Do you think things will ever be normal again?" she asked him sadly, "just like the way they were before?"

Lee couldn't bring himself to dash the little girl's hopes by telling her he didn't, so instead he smiled "Yeah, it may take a while," he said, trying to convince himself "but yeah I do, don't you?"

"I hope so."

"That's good, you hold onto that hope. It's the one thing none of this can take away."


	37. Around Every Corner: Chapter Nine

Alyssa felt uneasy as she walked past the barricaded doors towards the nurse's station, she looked at the dead trying to break the door down and shuddered; it was a horrible sight. As she turned the corner, she stopped dead when she seen several walkers standing outside the door and she cursed as she ducked behind a table.

"Shit," she whispered. Glancing over the top, she brought out her gun and slowly aimed at the closest walker, biting her lip and hoping it wouldn't draw more to her; she fired and it fell lifeless to the floor but there was no time to feel good about herself, the others turned and began to make their way towards her.

Taking a deep breath and remembering everything Lee and Kenny had taught her, she fired quickly and hit her mark each time, the last walker didn't even get close before she shot it in the head. Now she could feel good about herself.

Lee came running around the corner and gave her a worried look, "We heard gunshots, what the hell happened?" he asked.

Alyssa pointed to the heap of walkers, "They trapped Vernon and Christa in the nurses office, so I shot them."

"Next time, come get me," Lee sighed, rubbing his face, "or else I'm going to get a heart attack worrying about you."

Alyssa grinned at him as she followed him up to the door, opening it, they walked inside and saw no trace of Vernon or Christa. Inside it was dark and dingy and Alyssa frowned as she heard the click of a gun and turned to the side to see Christa aiming a gun at her.

She seen who it was and lowered it immediantly, "What the hell happened?" Lee asked Vernon, as he stepped out from behind a curtain.

"They wandered into the hallway after we got inside," Christa explained, making sure the door was secure, Alyssa could see she had a worried look on her face, "I think they heard us rooting around in here. This whole place is infested, they're everywhere!"

"Calm down, Christa," Alyssa said soothingly, "I took care of the ones out there."

"What about the meds, did you find what we needed?" Lee asked them both.

"Yeah, that's our other problem," Vernon said annoyed, "take a look," he tried to open a tall safe but it remained locked, "looks like they were keeping all the prescription meds in that safe - locked up tight," he added.

"Mabye we should try looking somewhere else for medicine?"

"In Crawford?" Veron gave Lee a look of disbelief, "this place is too overun. No, that safe is our best chance."

"It'd be a hell of a lot quicker if we just knew the code to open the door," Alyssa muttered, glancing over it, "do you think they wrote it down somewhere?"

"Well I doubt that they did that, and left it here or us to find," Christa sighed, "we should just bust it open, we don't have any other choice."

Lee nodded, "Okay, you get started," he said "we'll take a look around, see if we can find anything useful."

Christa kept trying to get the door open, while Lee, Vernon and Alyssa looked around for the code or something to help them open it, looking down, Alyssa seen a sonogram on the floor and glanced at it, "I couldn't imagine being pregnant during this," she whispered.

Christa glanced at her but didn't say anything, Lee seen a camcorder set up, facing the safe. Mabye the code had been recorded? He walked over and tried to play it but realised that there was no tape inside. He joined Vernon at the desk and began rooting through folders to see if he could find a tape, as he picked one up he felt the bulk and opened up the folder, to see paperwork, photograph and even better a tape.

"Anna Correa," he read outloud, "I guess she must have been a patient here."

"Unlucky for her," Vernon murmured as he kept looking, Lee sighed and went back to the camcorder, he slipped it in and pressed play; seeing at what he was doing the rest of them gathered round to see what was on the tape;

_Anna sat nervously on the bed as a voice spoke "This is day eighty-two since te outbreak...fifteen forty-seven. Doctor Logan in consultation with patient Anna Correa."_

_The doctor stepped into the frame and walked over to the patient, the woman frowned at the camcorder and glanced up at him, "Why are you recording this?" she asked slowly._

_"Regulations, Oberson has ordered me to keep records of all medical examinations and consultations," the doctor explained, "I need you to brace yourself, Anna. The sonogram confirms that you're pregnant."_

_Anna looked distraught and covered her face with her hands, "Oh god, oh god, oh god..." she said worriedly._

_The doctor offered no words of comfort "As you know, the rules are very clear, the termination is mandatory."_

_"You don't have to tell them, tell them it was just nausea," Anna looked at him desperately "that you gave me something for it and it went away. This is my problem, not yours."_

_He raised his eyebrows at her, "If Oberson finds out I concealed evidence of a pregnancy-" he shook his head, "I'm sorry, but these are the rules," he turned to the safe and entered the code but he blocked any view of it, "I'm going to give you a sedative, it'll make the procedure easier on you."_

_Anna shook her head, "I don't want the procedure!" she cried, "I want my baby! I can't do this!" she covered her face again and her shoulders began to shake._

_The doctor still didn't comfort her or look at her even, "Anna, you don't have a choice," he sighed, "now if you like, you can take some time with this, but I need you to come back no later than tomorrow. Or I'll have no choice but to inform Oberson myself," Anna made a disgusted face and got up from the bed, "I'm sorry."_

_There was a slamming of the door and the doctor shook his head and turned, coming forward there was suddenly darkness as he had stopped the camera recording._

"Fuck!" Alyssa cursed, "we almost had it!"

Christa gave Lee an incredulous look, "What the hell kind of place was this?"

"Like Molly said," Lee answered, glancing down at the tape, "the worst kind."

Vernon stepped forward, "Lee, mabye there's another tape. We've got to keep looking," he said.

Lee thought for a moment and remembered where else he had seen medical scrubs, "I think I recognize that doctor," he said quietly "he was one of the walkers out in the alley by the auto shop."

"Mabye you should search it," Vernon suggested, "see what he's got on him."

Lee nodded and headed for the door, "Stay here and keep looking for tapes," he said this in paticular to Alyssa who had raised an eyebrow at him, "I'm going to go see if this doctor walker can be of any use."

"Just be careful!" Alyssa sighed, "and hurry up, I don't wanna be here anymore."

He shot her a smile and retraced his steps to the alleyway, sure enough, he seen the walker he was after crawl about in the alley in front of the now closed garage door; at least he wasn't in the auto-shop with the other walkers.

As he went into the little shed to climb through the roof again, he heard a snarl and just managed to avoid being bitten by a walker who must've wandered in. He gave it a hard push and it fell to the ground still growling and making noises but before it could stand, a television fell of the shelf and landed on it's head, splattering it's brain.

Lee sighed; another close call.

His eyes followed the bloody trail of the walker and he seen it nearly reach the fence, by dragging itself along the ground, he wasted no time and stomped on it's head and made a face at the blood now staining his shoes. He checked in the walkers torn pockets and seen another tape, putting it in his pocket, he noticed a code also in the pockets and frowned; the safe combination was only four digits and he wondered what this code unlocked.

On his way back to the others, just by chance, Lee glanced along the lockers and took note of the posters and picture of this 'Oberson' who had been in charge and saw a bloody locker with the name 'Logan' on it - he frowned that was the name of the doctor in the tapes which meant this was his locker. Opening it, he saw that not much was left but another tape. _The safe combination has gotta be on one of these!_ he thought desperately, closing the locker and heading back into the nurse's station, he hoped they could get the meds.

"I found two more tapes," he announced to the others as he walked in, "hopefully one has the code."

"Put them in and we can see," Christa said, impatiently, "I just want this safe open."

Lee put in the second one and they all eagerly watched to see if the safe combination would be on this one;

_Anna sat looking defeated on the bed again, "Have you made a decision?" Logan asked her seriously, walking over._

_"I thought you said I didn't have a choice?" she said sadly._

_"Well, technically you do," Logan admitted, "you can terminate the pregnancy or leave Crawford," he snorted, "of course that would be a death sentence for both you and your unborn child."_

_Anna said nothing and thhn finally sighed "Mabye that's best," she agreed quietly, "I stayed up all last night thinking about it. Why are we even trying to survive?" she looked so tired, "to keep on living, if this is what it takes? If this is what it's turned us into," she covered her face again._

_"I don't make the rules, Anna," the doctor said unkindly._

_Anna let out a shaky breath and gave him a beseeching look, "Doctor, I'm begging you. Please help me!"_

_"Mabye one day, when things are different - you can try again," Logan said firmly, "but for now, today, we have to do this."_

Lee zoomed in the camera and saw the doctor punch in the safe code clearly.

_Anna ran up behind the doctor with a pair of surgical scissors in her hand and stabbed him in the side, just above his waist, he let out a yell of pain and she took his gun off of him. "No...no, no..." he rasped, as Anna ran and left the room, gunshots could be heard as the doctor let out one more breath and collapsed on the floor and a hand suddenly appeared and the video stopped..._

"Well, I think we know what happened to Crawford," Lee said quietly.

Alyssa made a face, "They got what they deserved" she muttered bitterly.

"More importantly, we've got the combination!" Vernon said triumphantly, Christa said nothing and instead, began to cry a little and walked away from the rest of them; Alyssa narrowed her eyes at Christa and then they widened as something came to her.

Lee and Vernon shared a look, and while Vernon opened the safe, Lee came up behind Christa and put a hand on her shoulder. "Are you all right? What's wrong?"

"It's nothing," she said, sniffing and looking down at the ground instead of Lee, "that was just ... hard to watch. Don't worry about me," she assured him, wiping her eyes quickly, "I'm fine."

"All right," Lee said finally, "let's get those meds and get the hell out of here."

Vernon got the safe open and looked delighted at the sight he was greeted with, "We're in business!" he said, "antibiotics...morphine..." Christa looked relieved and gave Lee a weak smile, "we'll take as much of this as we can carry."

"I've got Clem's bag," Alyssa said, "stuff what you can in there and we'll half it back at the house."

Vernon and Christa loaded up the bag and their pockets, until the safe was more or less empty, Okay, I think we're good," Vernon nodded, "this is more than enough for your people and mine. Let's go."

Lee remembered the third tape, "You know, I found a third tape in a locker outside. Mabye there's something else on there?" he suggested.

"We got the meds for Omid, that's all I care about," Christa said, shaking her head and leaving the room.

"We'll head back to the classroom, don't take too long Lee," Vernon told him, following Christa out.

"You got your gun on you?" Alyssa asked quickly, and Lee nodded, "okay, I'll go back and keep an eye on Clem, make sure she's okay, don't be forever."

Lee waited till the door had closed behind them before he played the last tape and his eyebrows rose; he had not been expecting this.

_Doctor Logan zipped up his pants in front of the camera and stepped aside to look at Molly who was also getting re-dressed, looking a little ashamed. "Listen, as fun as this was," Logan said almost in a bored tone, heading to the medicine safe, "I have to put a stop to this little arrangement. This is the last I can give you."_

_Molly looked surprised and looked at him, "Why?"_

_The doctor looked at Molly and raised an eyebrow, "Oberson had someone down here yesterday taking inventory," he said, "he's really cracking down. I just can't risk it."_

_"We had a deal!" Molly snapped angryily._

_"Yes, we HAD a deal," he sneered, holding out some medicine to her, "we don't anymore."_

_"My sister needs this medicine," Molly said with just a hint of desperation in her voice, "without it she'll die. Or she'll start showing and they'll take her away!" Logan didn't seem bothered and walked away from her, towards the camcorder "I can't let that happen!"_

_"I'm sorry Molly, I've done all I can," he said in the bored tone again, "but I have to look out for myself here."_

_She looked furious, "Yeah...that's the Crawford way, isn't it?" she shoved him aggresively on the way out and then it went black again._

Lee processed what he had just seen and sighed, "Well, shit," he said out loud and exited the nurse's office. He just turned the corner when he heard the sound of someone landing behind him and he jumped, but when he seen it was only Molly; he sighed.

"Jesus Christ, you scared the shit out of me," he said angryily, Molly only looked amused and walked up to him, "where the fuck have you been?"

"Sightseeing," she replied sarcastically.

Lee bit back an angry retort, "I'll take that battery now."

Molly's eyes widened "Oh...yeah, about that," she said awkwardly, averting her eyes, Lee felt his heart stop but Molly looked at him and grinned, "I'm just kidding," she said and went into her bag to retrieve the battery, "here ya go," she smiled and passed it to Lee.

Lee took it and then glanced down at her hand and noticed a bit of paper, "What's that?" he asked.

"Nothing."

Lee folded his arms and narrowed his eyes at her, "You can quit with the act, Molly," he said sternly "I know you're from Crawford."

"What?" she frowned at him, "who told you that?"

"I saw you on a security tape," Lee paused, "why'd you lie to me?"

Molly put a hand on her hip, "I said there were stories about Crawford," she snapped defensively, "I never said that's how I knew about it. I never lied to you," she raised an eyebrow "and even if I did, so what? I don't owe you anything!"

"You saved my life twice, but you can't tell me the truth?"

Molly closed her eyes, "Are we really going to do this now?"

"I guess that's up to you," Lee told her simply.

Molly sighed and opened her eyes, "I used to live here with my sister, she was fourteen years old," she explained sadly, "when the dead started walking and Crawford shut itself in, it seemed like a pretty good deal at first. We were safe, we had everything we needed to survive," she bit her lip, "then the rules started coming down. No-one who couldn't justify their place, earn their keep. No-one who required special care. My sister was diabetic, and by Crawford's rules that made her a liability...I kept it a secret, kept her safe for as long as I could. But in the end, I couldn't protect her. That's when I got out," she looked close to tears, talking about her sister, "Crawford, they always talked about how their system worked, how everything was better than becoming 'one of them' but I saw what they'd already become. I just wish I could have seen it before it was too late. Before they came and took my sister away."

Lee watched as she rubbed her eyes and he fought the urge to hug her; she probably wouldn't want that, "This is all I have left of her," Molly whispered, looking down at the paper that was in fact a photograph, "I didn't have time to take it before I got out of Crawford, I just wanted it okay!" the defensive tone was coming out now.

"It's okay, Molly, I understand," Lee said comfortingly, he smiled down at the photo, "she's pretty."

Molly smiled tenderly at him but then there was a sound of church bells, "What the hell?"

Lee glanced behind them and felt his heart beat faster, the walkers would be attracted by the bell. "I think that's our cue to get the hell out of here," Lee said quickly.

They walked past the doors, Lee couldn't help but notice how close Molly walked next to him but he heard a creak of a door and stopped, as did Molly. Looking around, they didn't hear anything else and cautiously walked forward jumping as Ben ran down the corridor wielding a hatchet.

"Jesus," Molly snapped, "what the hell is wrong with you kid!"

"Sorry, sorry, I just got spooked by those bells," Ben explained, lowering his weapon, "and the I heard someone coming, Kenny and I still can't get the door open to the armory. He sent me out to look for something we can use to bust it open, I found this," he said holding out the hatchet.

Lee looked at it and slowly frowned, "Ugh, Ben...where did you get that?" he asked, dreading the answer.

"I just found it," Ben shrugged, "it was stuck in a door handle at the end of the hallway back there."

"Oh no-"

The doors were flung open and banged loudly as the walkers shoved their way through, making their way straight to the three of them, "SHIT!" Lee shouted, getting out his gun, Molly wasted no time and got out her ice pick and began to take out any walker she could, Lee covered her but at the last moment, a walker grabbed her hands and she wrestled with it.

"Lee, shoot this fucker!" she shouted, there was a gunshot and she came over and smiled at him.

"Thanks."

Lee looked confused down at his gun, "It wasn't me," he said, glancing behind and he raised his eyebrows as Clementine stood beside him with a gun in her hands.

Molly followed his eyes and grinned at Clementine, "Good going, kid. Nice shot!" she said before running down the corridor.

"Thanks," Clementine said quietly, still looking shocked at her actions but lowered the gun this time.

Lee smiled proudly at her, and then grabbed her hand leading her back to the classroom as more walkers came up the stairs.

Brie held the door open for them and slammed it shut as Lee and Clementine ran through, "What the fuck is going on?" Kenny asked, as everyone came running through.

"They're coming!" Lee said slightly out of breath.

Alyssa stood next to Kenny and her face paled, "Oh shit," she whispered.

"That ought to hold them," Vernon said, next to the door.

Brie looked fearfully out of the window, "Sure...but now how do we get out?" she asked fearfully.

Kenny began to kick the door, "Through the armory," he said, "if we can just get this damn door open!" Lee frowned a little as Ben sheepishly handed him the hatchet; he knew he was only trying to help but he really wanted to punch him for getting them in this predicament. Kenny now shoved his shoulder against the door, "come on, damn you!" he shouted.

Lee stood still, listening as the sounds of the walkers got louder and nearer, and seen Ben back away looking terrified, "This is my fault... all my fault!" he whimpered.

Christa narrowed her eyes at him, "What the hell is he babbling about?"

Alyssa shot him a look, "Ben, we talked about this!" she hissed.

"No, wait!" Christa said angryily, walking up to them both, "I want to know what he meant," she glanced at Ben suspiciously "what do you mean, this is all your fault?"

"K-Kenny, I'm so sorry ... I'm so sorry man," Ben stammered guiltily.

"Kid, this ain't the best time!" Kenny snapped, "whatever you did, save it for later!"

Ben looked down and shook his head, "I opened the door, I let them in..."

"I said save it for after we get outta here!" Kenny said annoyed, still shouldering the door.

"Ben!" Alyssa shouted, "we don't have time for this now!" but Ben shook his head at her.

"I'm sorry Alyssa, I can't do this anymore, he's got a right to know."

"Know what!" Christa demanded looking between the two teens.

"What is he talking about?" Lee asked Alyssa, but she shook her head as words began to pour out of Ben's mouth like a waterfall.

"It's been me all along, putting all of us in danger," Ben admitted guiltily "Katjaa and Duck...it was all me. It was all me."

With one last kick, Kenny managed to open the armory doors and he stopped as Ben's words sunk in, "Wait a minute," he said, turning slowly to look at Ben, "what are you saying...?"

"It was me who made the deal with the bandits at the motor inn, slipping them supplies. I thought mabye I could keep them off our backs," the walkers were out in the corridor now, slamming themselves against any door, desperate to get to the survivors, "when it got discovered, that's when they attacked. That's when Duck..."

Kenny's face filled with fury and he made to grab Ben but Vernon and Lee held him back. Ben shook as Kenny fought to get to him, Lee struggled to hold his friend back but glared at Ben, he couldn't believe he had done that, "Kenny, man. I agree with you - you SHOULD kick his ass! But now's not the time! We gotta focus on getting out of here!"

"You little pissant!" Kenny snarled at Ben, "You are fucking dead, you hear me! DEAD! My wife and child, you got them both fucking killed!"

"Kenny! Please, listen, you can whoop his skinny little ass later, but right now we gotta go!" Alyssa said loudly. Kenny looked at her and then sighed, stopping his struggling to get to Ben.

"Nice group you got here," Molly said sarcastically, raising an eyebrow.

"Not the time, Molly!"

"If this asshole thinks he's getting on my boat, after what he did, he's out of his mother fuckin' mind!" Kenny shouted at Ben, "You hear me shitbird, you can stay behind and fuckin' rot!" Lee said nothing, as did Alyssa, "the boat's not big enough for all of us, somebody's gotta get left behind, might as well be this piece of shit right here!"

"Well, I vote we leave him," Christa said coldly, "I'm sorry, Ben. I know you mean well, but all I want to do is get back to Omid. And you put that at risk."

"Wait, don't I get a vote?" Clementine asked, appearing by Ben's side.

"Of course you do," Alyssa said at once, "we all get a vote."

"Ben's nice, he's my friend," Clementine glared at the adults, "we DON'T leave friends behind, that's my vote!"

"It's mine too," Alyssa said firmly, "I refuse to become like the people of Crawford, I vote Ben comes with us."

Christa looked a little ashamed after what Clementine and Alyssa had said, and shook her head. "On second thoughts, I think I'm gonna abstain," she said quietly, "Lee?"

Lee thought for a moment and glanced at his girls, "I've seen enough of Crawford to know that becoming like them is the beginning of the end. I vote Ben stays with us." Clementine shot him a smile while Ben gave Alyssa a weak smile, that she returned.

"What about the rest of us?" Brie asked from the door, "don't we get a say in-"

A walker's hand came out from nowhere and grabbed Brie by the neck, she screamed as one came from the hallway and took a bite out of her shoulder. Brie looked down in horror and tried to push another from her leg but the one who had grabbed her, pulled her head back and the walker dove into her stomach and disembowled her.

Vernon watched horrified as his friend died, "BRIE!" he shouted.

"Now can we go?" Alyssa said, her gun in her hands and Clementine behind her.

"Damn right!" Lee grabbed the old man, who was standing still looking in shock, "Vernon! Come on!"

They escaped through the armory door and shut it behind them, but it opened slightly again, not shutting right. They stood on one platform of a wooden staircase, and Lee tried to jam the door so the walkers wouldn't get through but it didn't work. "So much for the armory," he said shaking his head.

"What's left of it," Kenny said bitterly.

Alyssa looked desperately at the shelves, "A few rounds, that's it," she said weakly.

Lee heard the rasping sound of the walkers and braced himself against the door, "You didn't lock that door behind us!" Kenny accused him angryily.

"I couldn't," Lee snapped, "the lock was busted."

"Great, just fuckin' great..." Kenny cursed, "come on, there's gotta be a way out down here!" and led everyone downstairs and Lee hoped the walkers wouldn't come through and trap them. He opened the door at the bottom of the stairs, and his eyes widened when he seen a corridor full of walkers in front of him.

"FUUCK!" Kenny shouted as Lee slammed the door shut in their faces.

"That's not gonna hold," Lee said worriedly, bracing himself against the door, "back upstairs!"

The group ran back up and Lee was relieved to see Alyssa holding onto Clementine's hand; she would keep her safe, like she always does.

Just before Kenny ran up, he spotted a corpse holding a rifle and ran over to give it to Lee, "Lee look!" he said, tossing it to him.

Lee caught it and reloaded just as the door opened and walkers began to stumble through after him, he backed up the stairs, firing as the walkers got closer to him. He turned to glance behind him and saw walkers pouring through the other door, just as two turned and seen him there were gunshots above him and he looked up to see Alyssa aiming her gun.

They kept running, and Lee brought out his hatchet and swung it at walkers, pushing them off the side as he went. He kicked one in the stomach and it fell snarling, and he drove the hatchet so far into another it became embedded and he let it drop. "COME ON!" Kenny shouted, as he reached the top.

Clementine and Alyssa both ran over and hugged him, he gripped back and sighed shakily; they might just live through this. "It's alright girls," he said, as they let go of one another, "I'm fine."

Vernon was looking out the window desperately looking for a way out, "Anyway out of here?" Lee asked, walking up to him.

"This leads to the roof," Christa said quickly, "we might be able to find a way down from there."

"You didn't come into town from the railroad, did you?" Vernon asked, his voice full of dread.

"Yeah, why?" Kenny asked.

"Never mind," Vernon muttered, "I can see the sewer where we came in from here. I think we can do this."

"Well what are we waiting for!" Alyssa snapped, "Go, GO!"

Vernon went out first, followed by Clementine, Lee and Christa, then Molly. The walkers were getting louder as they slowly made their way up towards them, Kenny climbed out and Alyssa looked for Ben but her eyes widened as she seen a walker tied up for the bell slowly swing towards Ben and grab him, pulling him backwards.

Alyssa pulled out her gun and shot the walker, before it could bite him and Ben fell only just grabbing the edge before he fell. Alyssa fell to her knees and grabbed him, holding on with everything in her. "Just hold on!" she gasped, "I've got you!"

The walkers coming up the stair got distracted and tried to reach for Ben's dangling legs, "Ben, climb up!" Alyssa hissed, "come on, you can do this!"

"There's no time!" Ben told her urgently "just go, now!"

"Quit fuckin' around Ben!" Alyssa snapped, "COME ON!"

"Let go, dammit!" Ben replied, loosening his hold, "get the others out of here and be safe!"

"Alyssa."

She glanced around and saw Kenny standing on the ladders outside the window and he raised an eyebrow at her, before glancing worriedly at the walkers coming closer. "Alyssa, we both know," Ben whispered, Alyssa was struggling to hold onto him and she felt tears in her eyes, "let me go," he said.

Alyssa shook her head and grabbed onto the staircase and pulled him up, using all of her strength. Ben grabbed the edge and pulled himself up, Alyssa glanced behind and saw Kenny shake his head but jab a finger at her, meaning 'get here now'.

Ben looked at her "Why?"

"No time, get out the fuckin' window!" Alyssa cried out and practically jumped out as a walker hung out trying to grab her; they had escaped the belltower.

She just hoped they would make it back to the boat safetly.


	38. Around Every Corner: Chapter Ten

Christa ran up the stairs as soon as she was through the door and Vernon, Lee and everyone else followed her to the room that they had left Omid in, "Christa, everything okay?" Lee asked softly, seeing the stricken look on her face.

"Omid..." she choked out, tears in her eyes, she fell to her knees beside him and took his hand in hers.

"Hold on," Alyssa lowered her voice and looked at Vernon, "is he ...dead?"

"Christa, don't! Stay back!" Lee shouted but Christa ignored him and stayed by Omid's side.

"I never should have left you.." she said, a sob escaping her, "I'm so sorry..."

Vernon took a step into the room and gave her a worried look, "Christa, get away from him!"

Omid made a noise and sat up in bed suddenly, Lee grabbed Christa and pulled her back but could have cried with relief to see Omid was alive and not a walker. "Hey," he said tiredly smiling at Christa, "back already?"

Christa smiled and covered her mouth, tears falling from her eyes, but happy ones. "We got you medicine," she said happily.

"Good, feel like .. I could use some," Omid said, looking to Vernon who gave him the right pills, Omid swallowed them and nodded gratefully at the other man and glanced at the bottom of the bed, where the rest of the group smiled at him. "You okay kid?" he asked Ben, "you look worse than I do."

Ben said nothing but Kenny looked angry again, "We almost didn't make it out of there because of this asshole. Shoulda left him behind when we had the chance" he said pointedly looking at Alyssa, who just frowned at him.

Picking up on the tension, Omid glanced at them all in turn, "Guys, what the hell happened out there?" he asked.

"Let someone else tell you, I got work to do," Kenny snapped, he left the room and Alyssa waited before she followed him out.

Vernon looked over Omid's leg, not paying any attention to the drama in the room, "Okay, with a little luck you should start feeling better pretty soon," he said nodding at Omid, "I'll stay here for a few more hours to check on him, let me know if you need anything," Vernon added looking at Christa.

"Thanks 'doc," Omid sighed happily, and fell back onto the pillows.

Christa beamed up at him, "Yes, thank you so much!" she said, wiping a tear away.

Vernon looked up at Lee, "Mabye now's a good time for you and me to have a little talk," he glanced at Clementine, "in private."

"Come on, Clem," Lee said, nodding a little, "let's leave Omid to rest, how about you go find a book to read or something?"

She looked between him and Vernon suspiciously but nodded, "Okay, I'll be in the study."

Lee waited till she had shut the door behind her before he turned to Vernon, "Listen, man, about what happened to Brie..."

"Don't beat yourself up over it," Vernon said sadly, "it was nothing you could have done," he stopped and then met Lee's eyes, "you want to know the worst part?"

"What's that?"

"I don't feel much," Vernon admitted, "I mean, I don't feel enough. Shouldn't I be broken up over what happened to her? That's how I was when I lost my daughter," his voice hitched in his throat, "when I lost my friends in those first few weeks...but now... it's like I just take something like this in stride. Like this is what our world is now, and we'd better just get used to it."

Lee was silent "What did you want to talk to me about?" he asked finally.

"I know you care about Clementine, and Alyssa," Vernon said carefully, "anyone could see that, and I know you want what's best for them. But this plan of yours, putting everyone on a boat, with no destination..do you really think that's their best chance of finding somewhere where she can be safe? Because I don't," he said seriously "so I want to make you an offer."

"What kind of an offer?" Lee asked slowly.

"I'll take them off your hands, take them back with me, to my people. We're well supplied, well-hidden and a lot of us have had kids on their own," Lee's heart stopped at the thought of not having his girls with him, but he wanted them to be safe, he wanted Alyssa to stop having nightmares, "and now Crawford's fallen we've got nothing left to fear from them. They'll be safe with us, safer than they will be if they stay with you, I promise you, that's what you want for them, isn't it? To be safe?"

"You're coming at me with a lot here, Vernon," Lee said quietly, "I need to think it over"

"Of course, take your time," Vernon nodded, "but I want you to think about some things, you're a good man Lee, you've been protecting these people as best you can so far and they look up to you. Rightly so. But it's different with a child, you might have brought her this far, but sooner or later they might ask you for more than you can give them," he paused, "I'm sorry if that's hard to hear. But it's the truth."

Lee nodded sadly, "I appreciate it Vernon," he said "let me think about it, okay?"

"You do that," the older man said, and walked down the stairs.

Lee sighed and looked through the glass doors and seen Clementine sitting on the bench, looking out the window.

He needed to talk to her but before he opened the door, he seen Molly come out of the bedroom and head for the stairs, walking right past him. "Hey, going somewhere?" he asked her softly.

"Yeah, I'm about to head out," she said quietly, turning to look at him, "I just wanted to say thanks, for everything, it's been fun," she added smiling at him.

"What are you talking about?" Lee asked, stepping towards her, "Kenny's working on the boat right now, I thought you were coming with us?" he smiled softly at her, "god knows you've earned it."

"Yeah, I've been thinking it over," she said averting her eyes, "it's not for me, sounds like it'd be pretty crowded and I never did like the water."

"You sure about this?" he asked, sounding concerned.

"I'm sure," she assured him, "I've always done better on my own anyhow," she shook her head and smiled at him again, "listen, I'm not much for goodbyes, tell the others for me?" she asked him.

"Sure," Lee nodded, he held out his hand, "you take care of yourself Molly."

She shook his hand and held on a little longer, "You too, Lee."

Before he knew it, she had pulled him into a hug and he closed his eyes; he couldn't help but feel worried about her running about Savannah on her own. Molly leaned back and winked at him as if she knew what he was thinking and headed for the stairs, "And you be sure to take care of those girls," she smiled that tender smile again, "you know they think the world of you."

Lee nodded and smiled "Good luck."

"Ain't nothing to do with luck!" she winked again and headed down the stairs, Lee waited until he heard the door close quietly before he sighed. He walked into the study and looked down at Clem, noticing how sad she looked.

"Hey sweet pea," he said softly.

"Kenny's working on the boat, Alyssa's helping," Clementine said, still looking out the window.

"I know," Lee nodded.

She turned and looked at him a little worriedly "What are we going to do?" she asked, "After he fixes it? Where will we go?"

Lee knelt down and tried to smile "I don't know, we'll figure it out... we always do," he noticed the tears in her eyes and looked at her sadly, "Clem, honey, what's wrong?"

"Is Ben going to be okay?" she asked quietly, "he doesn't seem the same, since he got back."

"Ben's a good kid," Lee said honestly, "I think he's just feeling guilty about some of the decisions he's made. He's gotten to feeling like he's a burden on the rest of us."

Clementine bit her lip, "Before we leave tomorrow, will we have time to look for my parents?"

Lee was quiet but he shook his head sadly, "I'd like to, Clem, but I don't think we'll have time. We really shouldn't stay here any longer, it's not safe."

Clementine gave him a sad look before her small shoulders shook and she hid her face in her hands and began to cry her heart out. Lee reached out to hug her, but she lay down on the window seat and turned her back on him as she continued to cry for the parents she still hadn't found.

Lee stood up quietly and went over to sit on the couch, he would stay here incase Clementine needed him.

* * *

Lee opened his eyes sleepily and glanced around, "Clementine...?" he called out quietly, he glanced over at the window seat but felt a panic rise within him when he didn't see her lying there.

"Clementine?"

He looked quickly in the other rooms, making Christa and Omid worry when he said nothing but headed downstairs to look for her, she wasn't anywhere downstairs and he felt the panic rising even more as he hurried out to the garden, hoping that she would be out there playing or doing leaf rubbings.

"Clementine!" he called, "Clem!"

He looked about and his eyes fell on her cap that was lying next to the fence, "Oh god.." he whispered, she never went anywhere without that cap. He walked over and picked it up, looking at it sadly; where the hell was she?

There was a crackling of a radio that made his head pop up and he looked outside the fence to see the walkie-talkie with stickers on it lying on the ground, he climbed over the fence quickly and walked slowly up to it. "Clem?" he whispered.

He cautiously approached it and bent down and picked it up and it suddenly went quiet. Before he could do anything, a walker lunged at him from the trash cans and he felt red-hot pain in his wrist, shouting out, he pushed it back and stamped on it's head hard as if he was venting out his anger at Clementine going missing on it.

He picked up the walkie-talkie and put it back on his belt, and also her hat that he had dropped when the walker had startled him. It was then that he seen it.

The bite mark.

"No..no," he said softly, shaking his head in denial, "oh..fuck..."

"Lee?" he heard Christa call him, and glanced back to see them all exit the garden looking for him, "you out here? Lee?"

He looked back down at his bite and felt the fear fill him; he was going to die, just like Duck, bitten...he was bitten. "Are you crazy, what're you doing out here?" he heard Kenny ask him, as they walked towards him, "it ain't safe!"

"Lee, you okay?" Ben asked worriedly, when he didn't turn around.

"Lee, where's Clementine?" Omid asked him, "she's not in her room?"

"Vernon's not in the house either," Kenny spoke up, "what the hell is going on?"

"Whose blood is that?" Alyssa asked.

"It's mine," Lee said weakly, turning around and showing his group the bite mark on his wrist, his eyes met Alyssa's and it was then that she seen the bite mark.

"No..." she whispered stricken and shaking her head, "no, no, no, NO!"

"Oh my god," Christa said her face paling, "this isn't happening!"

"No way," Kenny said shaking his head, angryily, "no, no fuckin' way!"

"There's no time to worry about me," Lee told them all firmly, "Clementine's gone."

Omid looked worried, "There's no chance that she could have wandered off on her own?"

"No, no way," Lee said softly shaking his head.

"Then who the hell took her?" Alyssa asked, sounding close to tears.

"I don't know," Lee said slowly and then sighed, "last night Vernon came to me ... and offered to take you both with him, said you'd be better off."

Alyssa was silent but her brown eyes were full of hurt, "Son of a bitch!" Kenny cursed, "I knew we couldn't trust that fucker."

"Wherever she is," Lee said, "I have to find her."

"Okay, what do you need from us?" Christa asked kindly.

Lee thought about it but shook his head, "I don't know what to do here," he snapped, "I don't know f I can even ask for your help."

"Lee, we're a team, that's how we made it this far," Christa said, sounding like she was about to cry, "we're not going to just abandon you."

"Even now?"

"Especially now," Christa assured him with a watery smile, "you've earned that much."

"Damn straight," Omid nodded.

"So it's settled then," Christa said firmly, "we look for Clementine together."

"Hell yeah," Omid grinned, "what are we waiting for?"

Lee still looked doubtful, "Are you sure about this?" he asked seriously, "it could be dangerous."

"As opposed to what?" Omid asked sarcastically, "day-to-day life these days."

"We're sure, Lee. Just lead the way" Christa nodded.

Lee smiled and nodded back, before turning to Alyssa, who was pressing her lips together trying not to cry, "Honey, you don't need to do anything you don't want," he whispered, "if this is too painful-"

"Lee Everett, you are my family," she said, her voice breaking a little as a tear rolled down her cheek, "just as much as everyone else and more, and if you think that I am just going to walk away from you now, you're wrong," she sniffed and shook her head, "very wrong."

Lee pulled her into a hug and she let out a shaky breath against his chest, he closed his eyes and just realised how much she meant to him, both her and Clementine. He was going to miss her. "Thank you for coming with me," he said softly to her, "you are my family, and it means a lot to me."

ALyssa nodded and wiped her eyes with her sleeve quickly, smiling weakly at him. "With you to the end, Everett."

Kenny met Lee's eyes and it was silent between the two men, "You've always been there for me, Lee," he finally spoke, "always had my back when it mattered. What kind of friend would I be, if I wasn't there for you now?" he nodded "Bitten or not, I'm with you to the end, you can count on me."

Lee put a hand on Kenny's shoulder and smiled weakly, "Thanks man," he nodded and then he turned to Ben, letting his hand slip from Kenny's shoulder, "what about you Ben?" he asked quietly.

"Now hold on a minute!" Kenny snapped, "you're not really thinking about bringing him with us, are you?"

"Deal with it, Kenny," Alyssa intervened, "the way I see it, Ben still has a chance to make things right. If he wants it..." she trailed off.

Lee nodded at her and looked back at Ben, "How about it, Ben?"

"I ... I don't know," he said finally, "whatever you think is best."

"Clementine's one of the few good things left in this world," Lee said quietly "she stood up for you in Crawford when Kenny wanted you gone, don't you think you owe it to her to stand up for her now?"

Ben looked ashamed and met Lee's eyes, "You're right, I owe her," he said "I want to do this for Clem... but I want to do it for Kenny too. I gotta make it right with him. Somehow I gotta make it right."

Lee smiled at him, and then glanced around, "Okay guys, we should go find Vernon, see if he took her. Let's head out."

"What about the boat?" Kenny asked suddenly, "we're just gonna leave it unguarded?"

"If someone was going to take it, they'd have done it already," Christa pointed out, "besides, what choice do we have?"

Silently, they followed Lee as he led them to where he had met Vernon, he gritted his teeth, if the old man had taken Clementine, he was going to regret it.

* * *

Lee pushed down the sign covering the tunnel and walked inside, he noticed Alyssa's heartbroken look as they had passed Chuck's corpse but knew there was no time for a burial, and at least she knew that too. Inside, there were no supplies left on the shelves and Lee wondered why, glancing back at the others he seen Kenny nod at him and he brought out his gun incase he needed it, he opened the door and looked inside and his eyes widened in shock; it was empty.

"Where the hell are they?" he asked out loud.

They all glanced around the morgue and Kenny made a face, "Looks like they got out of here in a hurry," he said.

Lee refused to believe that they were gone and walked ahead, "Vernon! Get out here!" he called out, "There doesn't have to be any trouble here, all I want is the girl! Give her back and nobody needs to get hurt!"

The silence that he was greeted with was eerie and he felt completely lost, wondering where on earth, Clementine was. He leaned against one of the slabs and sighed, running his hand through his short hair, he remembered the day he let Alyssa and Clementine cut it at the motor inn, they way they had carefully cut it so it wouldn't look stupid and the ridiculously happy looks on their faces when he told them he loved it.

The sounds of walkers approaching made him raise his head a little and look out of the windows, high up on the walls, where he seen the silhouette's of many walkers walk by them. He stood up straight and looked at all the windows, stunned by just how many walkers were actually above them right now.

There came more rasping noises and snarls from the tunnel and they all glanced uneasily into it, when there was a click on the walkie-talkie and to Lee's relief he heard Clementine's voice, "Lee?" she whispered.

He snatched it off his belt and held down the button, desperate to talk to her, "Clementine! Are you alright?" he asked quickly, "where are you?" when there was no answer, he grew angry "Vernon, you son of a bitch!"

"Hello, Lee."

Lee grew angry as he recognised the voice, it was the stranger who had been talking to Clementine since the motor-inn, "Where the hell have you taken her!" he demanded.

"This isn't Vernon," the voice corrected him, "and you should really watch your tone," his voice got a little friendlier and Lee felt himself fill with hate, "Clementine's fine, but if I were you, I'd choose my next words VERY carefully."

Lee slowly raised the walke-talkie to his mouth and pressed the button...


	39. No Time Left: Chapter One

Alyssa felt the hairs on her neck stand up as the sound of the walkers got louder behind them, they were in the sewers, she glanced over at Lee worried as he pressed the button with his thumb.

"You're fucking DEAD," Lee snarled into the walkie-talkie, "I don't know who you are but I will kill you, do you understand!"

There was silence before whoever had took Clementine answered. "I know you will. She knows you will. Say goodbye."

Clementine's voice came over the radio and she sounded sad, "Goodbye," she whispered, before the walkie-talkie clicked off.

Lee's arm drooped and he stood in front of the table with his shoulders slumped in defeat as the others watched in silence. "Just hold on Clementine, I'm coming for you..." he whispered before clipping the walkie-talkie to his belt.

Kenny stepped forward "Don't worry pal, we'll get her back."

Lee turned around, his eyes full of defeat and sorrow and he glanced at them all in turn, his eyes finally resting on Alyssa who gave him a sad look. What where they going to do now? Chrisa broke the silence after a quick glance at Lee's wrist, where the walker had got him. "How's that feeling?" she asked concerned.

"Not great," Lee replied looking down at his arm "my hand is hot and it's thumping a little bit."

"You seem okay for now." Alyssa said, she was still having a hard time coming to the realisation that he was bit and was going to die like Duck had.

Omid nodded "Yeah .. totally."

"We don't have much time-" Christa started to say before they heard the choking snarls of the dead from behind them as the walkers began to drag themselves through the hole in the wall towards them.

"We're about to have a lot less!" Kenny said taking charge, and slamming the door shut "we'll all make sure that nothing gets in!" he glanced at Lee "You're still the smartest fucker out of all of us try to find another way out of here"

Alyssa rushed over and helped him hold the door as did the others as Lee began to look around desperately for a way out. He ran up to the elevator and tried to prise the doors open and cursed when they hardly opened up for him, he rushed back down and began to search the cupboards for anything that might help him, anything at all. The walkers began to bash themselves against the door trying to get in and Alyssa shot him a desperate look. "HURRY UP LEE!" she shouted as more gathered on the other side of the door.

Lee looked in the last cupboard and could have cried with relief, lying there was a rib spreader which could help him to open the elevator door. Opening the door as wide as he could he managed to slip the rib spreader into the gap and quickly began to crank it open and was happy to see the doors opening up wider.

He was just getting somewhere when his vision began to blur and he felt dizzy. Lee felt it harder to keep his eyes open and to even breathe, panicking he began to go back to the others but he felt himself black out before he could reach them.

Alyssa watched him fall and she began to panic, "LEE!" she cried out and ran towards him, Ben and Christa stayed to watch the door as Kenny and Omid came up behind her.

"Oh my god," she said, "it must be the bite doing this to him."

"Fuck, lets get him on the table," Kenny said reaching down and picking him up under his arms "I got an idea."

Omid picked up his legs and Alyssa ran over and cleared the table as they put him on it, "How are we going to help him?" she asked worriedly.

"Is there a way to slow the bite down?" Omid suggested.

Kenny looked pale, "Well, there's one thing to try," he said as Ben and Christa came over to see what was going on, "he can't die if we cut off the bitten area can he?"

Alyssa's eyes widened "Kenny, you can't seriously be wanting-"

"I don't want to do this Al' ... Jesus fuck, do you really think I want to cut his arm off? But if it helps him to live then I will do it!"

"He'll die from the blood loss like my teacher did!" Ben said misreably.

"What if he's dead now?" Christa asked seriously, her hand on the gun.

Alyssa felt angry "Of course he's not!" she snapped.

"Fuck .. is he alive?" Kenny asked scared.

"Shit!" Omid closed his eyes and put his hands on his head.

Ben just paced slowly "This is bad ... this is bad."

Kenny reached over and grabbed medical a saw lying on the other table, "Okay," he said breathing heavily, "this has to be done. Sorry pal, I gotta do it," He held down one of Lee's arms while Omid tied a rag tightly around his arm to stop the blood flow, Kenny was about to begin sawing when Lee's eyes suddenly oppened.

"..Whoah!" he shouted causing Kenny to stop what he was doing. Alyssa sighed in relief and took hold of one of his hands.

"Stop! He's awake!" Christa said to Kenny who still held the saw closer to Lee's arm.

"He's still bitten!"

"So?!" Alyssa said shocked.

"This is about trying to _save _him! At the very least buy him some more time!" Kenny replied angryily.

"Do we have to cut it off though?" Ben said worriedly.

"Do we know it works?" Omid asked nervously.

"We don't know anything," Alyssa said quietly "nothing seems to work."

"Is there gonna be a lot of blood?" Ben sounded queasy at the question.

Christa frowned "There's gonna be a shitload of blood!" she replied.

"What if he dies?"

"Then the rest of us go after Clementine, and get the hell out of Savannah."

"Damn right," Kenny nodded, "let's do this, if there's a chance it stops you from turning, we have to take it."

Lee looked pissed off as he cleared his throat, "Jesus, what are you guys talking about?" he asked them while sitting up and swinging his legs over the table.

Ben looked down, "We thought mabye.. with your bite... if we removed it, you might live."

"I know it's drastic," Christa said sadly, folding her arms.

"Yeah, no shit." Lee muttered, looking down and thinking.

"It's not our call anyway," Alyssa said "it's Lee's life ... he should make the call."

"But what if it works?" Christa continued, "It might be the only way."

"If we take off the arm and you don't die of blood loss, well, mabye you won't die from the bite?" Omid said with a little hope in his voice.

"What do you think?" Kenny asked as they all watched as Lee shakily stood up from the table, he thought for a moment before he closed his eyes and shook his head.

"No ... we leave it."

"Are you sure?" Kenny asked him.

Lee nodded "Yeah. I feel like I got time, just keep an eye on me. If I get my hands on the bastard who's got Clem, I'm gonna be happy to have them both."

"But ... you're gonna die?" Omid said sadly, they all remained quiet and Alyssa pressed her lips together and blinked furiously to stop tears from falling, she had to keep it together.

"Yeah but not in here." Lee said breaking the silence, "you guys keep an eye on that door, and I'll work on getting us out of here."

"Lee-"

"No," Lee shook his head, interrupting Christa, "this is what we're doing and I don't want to hear anything else, okay?"

She nodded sadly and they went back to guarding the doors while Lee headed back up to the elevator. He began to crank the rib seperator again and this time, he didn't black out and he managed to get the doors open.

Making their way through the elevator, they found themselves at the bottom of the shaft and were greeted by a ladder that must of went all the back up to the roof. Lee glanced up, "All right, up we go."

"We need to be as quiet as possible," Alyssa whispered, hearing the walker's rasping breaths and growls echo through, "see if we can find an empty floor or even the roof."

"Sounds good," Omid nodded and one by one, they began to climb up the ladder.

The ladder just seemed to go on forever to Alyssa as she kept climbing, ignoring the sounds of the walkers from each floor that they passed instead she focused on them getting out of here and rescuing Clementine from the man who had stolen her away. She could hear Lee below her and she felt the voice of doom in her head, reminding her he was going to die soon and become ... one of them.

"Nice and quiet, everybody," Omid whispered as they climbed higher.

"There's some light up there," Kenny said in a low voice.

Lee nodded thankfully, below Alyssa, "Good, I gotta get my ass off this ladder.

Christa gasped from above her and Alyssa quickly glanced up and swore when she seen a walker fall down from one of the floors. "Shit!" she whispered and pressed herself into the ladder as much as she could, hearing the sound of the body hitting the floor, she controlled her breathing and kept climbing, hoping to reach the top soon.

"Oh jeez, oh jeez," Ben said shakily.

"Shut the fuck up Ben," Kenny snapped.

"Everything okay up there?" Lee asked from below her.

"I think I just peed myself."

Alyssa rolled her eyes at Ben's response "So yes then?" she said sarcastically.

As she glanced down to make sure Lee was okay, she seen his eyes roll back and he groaned in pain before falling backwards. "Lee!" she cried out and stopped climbing.

"Whats happened?" Christa asked fearfully.

"He's fainted again," Alyssa whispered, remembering the walkers that surrounded them "but his legs have locked him into the ladder!"

"Thank god for that!"

"Lee ... LEE!" Alyssa hissed "Oh my god, please be alive? Get up!"

She let out a long held in breath when she seen his eyes flutter open and he looked dazed. "...I'm alive ... I think." he said in a weak voice.

"You have to pull yourself up!" Christa said from the top "come on, you can do this!"

Lee gritted his teeth and pulled himself up and grabbed the steps of the ladder and caught his breath, that had hurt way more than it should of had and he was now a little worried about his predicament.

They managed to make it to the top and Lee gratefully stepped out into the sun and fresh air, they were on top of the hospital roof and he walked to the edge and looked down, his heart sinking when he seen the street full of walkers below them.

"Remember when Savannah was empty?" Kenny asked sarcastically.

Christa nodded "Those Crawford bastards did one thing right, I guess."

Alyssa just wanted to fall to the ground and cry at their helpless situation. "There must be thousands of them" she said miserably.

Ben stood next to her shaking his head at the vast sea of walkers "Did they follow us here?".

"It sure seems like it." Kenny said

"No, thats impossible they don't track," Christa retorted "they just roam!"

"Is it?" Kenny asked in a serious tone, "that fucking train wasn't exactly discreet."

"Well, what do we do now?" Omid asked.

Lee looked over Savannah and sighed "Clementine's out there somewhere. Gobbled up in all of that."

Christa walked over and placed a hand on his shoulder, "We'll get to her Lee, we'll do what we have too."

"Look let's get our bearings and see if we can find a way to make it across town .. good?" Kenny glanced around and everyone nodded before looking for an alternate route. Alyssa watched as Lee stayed by the edge looking down and she walked over to where Kenny was leaning heavily against the wall at the opposite side.

"That looks like Crawford square over there," she said, shielding her eyes from the sun.

"Fuck that place," Kenny shook his head angryily.

"Kenny, are you okay?" she asked him worriedly.

"Nah uh... I'm just taking a minute actually. I'm sorry darlin'," he said looking at her "I know I shouldn't."

"Whats going on?" Alyssa asked tentatively. She didn't know if she could handle anymore bad news.

"Just ... everything. Ah, fuck Alyssa. You know." Kenny sighed and Alyssa bit her lip and nodded.

"I can't thank him enough for what he did for Duck ... and now he's going to-"

"Don't dwell on it."

He ignored her and kept staring out at Savannah "I look at where we are, right now, and I can't imagine Kat and Duck in all this mess. Let alone you and Clem."

"Kenny-" she said softly but he interrupted her

"No, I'm sorry. We're in a fuckin' hurry to get off this roof; it's not the time. I'm sorry. I'm okay."

Lee watched as Alyssa softly patted Kenny's shoulder before continuing to look for a way out, he sighed and realised just how much he was going to miss her. She was the teenage daughter that he never had, all her wisecracks and sarcastic comments ... he would miss them all.

And Clementine too.

He shook his head and spied a ladder that someone had left up on the roof after writing 'Survivors inside' on the wall of the hospital. Before he knew it, he was picking them up and heading over to where Omid was standing in front of a bell tower and he said a quick thank you in his head to Molly for the idea of using bells. He walked over and extended the ladder as much as he could before he pushed it over the side and was glad when it stayed in place.

"The bells!" Omid said happily.

"Yeah, can buys us some time. Draw as many as we can this way, get down off the roof on the opposite side and bust our asses getting back to the mansion." Lee said.

Kenny walked up and narrowed his eyes at Lee, "You think you should be the one to go?" he asked.

Omid nodded "My legs feeling better, let me do it."

"I'll do it!" Ben said determinedly.

Kenny rolled his eyes "Yeah .. Ben will do it."

"We could argue all day but no offense I am the lightest," Alyssa rolled her eyes "I should be the one to do it."

Lee shook his head "If we have to decide who takes a risk like this, it should be the guy whose got the least to lose."

When no one looked convinced he gave a snort, "Whats the worse that could happen? I get bitten again?".

No one answered "So we're agreed then," he said, turning around and beginning to climb across the ladder. It wasn't until he was nearly at the bell tower that the ladders gave a creak and gave way, luckily he was close enough to jump before the ladders fell to the ground crushing a walker as it landed.

"HOLY SHIT MAN!" Omid shouted.

"Are you okay!" Alyssa asked running to the wall and looking scared.

"I'm fine," Lee said nodding "still here."

Omid joined Alyssa at the wall "Try to find another way out of there?"

Lee spotted the hatch and hurried over, using all his strength he tried to lift the opening up but it stayed where it was and his heart sunk when he realised he wasn't getting out this way. "The exit in here's locked!" he shouted back.

"Give me a fuckin' break!" Kenny cursed.

Lee wasted no time and began to ring the bell and he heard the herd of walkers come towards him. "They're coming this way!" Alyssa said glancing over the side.

"Tons of them! Jesus!" Omid shook his head.

Christa shot Lee a worried look "Now get back here so we can go!" she shouted.

Lee glanced down between the two buildings and winced; you could hardly see the street for walkers, taking a deep breath he looked to his group "I think I'll need to jump. There's no way back!"

"You can make it! It ain't that far!" Kenny agreed with him.

"You got this Lee!" Alyssa encouraged him while looking only slightly worried. Lee backed away as far as he could go and nodded.

"You got this, you _got _this, motherfucker!" he whispered to himself and then took a run towards the ledge and jumped, he was in the air for a second before he reached out and grabbed the edge and hauled himself over. His heart beating fast.

"Good goddamn leap, pal!" Kenny smiled, helping him to his feet, as Lee caught his breath Kenny turned to the others, "lets get the hell off of this goddamn roof!"


End file.
